


Justice League Femme

by Amethyst_Jewels



Series: Justice League Femme [1]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batwoman (Comic), DCU (Comics), Harley Quinn (Comics), Huntress (Comics), Supergirl (Comics), Wonder Woman (Comics), Zatanna (Comics)
Genre: Action/Adventure, DC Comics Rebirth, Multi, New 52, Slow Burn, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-12 23:04:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 54,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20572409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amethyst_Jewels/pseuds/Amethyst_Jewels
Summary: **Based off of the New 52/Rebirth Storylines as well as some Arrowverse characters**After a mysterious illness affect the men on Earth, most of the male superheroes grow too weak to fight crime.  What to do when they can't fight?  Bring in the girls.Kara Zor-El is a Kryptonian like her cousin, Superman.  Following in his footsteps, she is a superhero better known as Supergirl.  With her super-powered cousin out-of-commission, she is forced to fill in his shoes.  If only being a superhero while in her junior year in high school was easier.By day, Barbara Gordon is a computer-science major at Gotham State University.  By night, she becomes Batgirl, a vigilante who was inspired by Batman's heroism.  While she was out of the spotlight for a long time, Barbara is back and ready to be Batgirl now more so than ever.With the boys of the Justice League out, Diana Prince, also known as Wonder Woman, is prepared to go into battle and serve justice.As the three come together and recruit other healthy vigilantes and superheroes, they begin to realize that this disease is too drastic to overlook...I do not own ANY of the characters.  DC Comics own these characters and all credit goes to them.





	1. Supergirl

I remember it all too well. Like it was yesterday. The screams of my people as the ground shook. Towers that graced Argo City's skyline crumbled to the ground. I witnessed all of this through the window of my home. My jaw fell open and tears rolled down my face.

I remember how my father tugged on my wrist. "We have to get going, Kara," he said in a strong Kryptonese accent.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "To where?"

But there was no time for an answer. He gripped my wrist harder and ran me out of the living room and down to the basement: my father's study.

It was dimly lit, the light hitting the steel walls creating a blue hue. His discoveries lined the area. Before us stood a large space pod. The metal was a silver-blue color. The windshield had the same color, but with a glossy look to it.

I turned to my father. "What is this?"

"A way to keep you safe, Kara." His gray eyes looked directly into mine. "Krypton only has minutes before it ceases to exist."

"What about Kal?" I asked.

"Your cousin has already been sent off," my father said, "now you must go and protect him."

I nodded, holding back tears. "For Kal." I let out a sigh as I entered the pod. "Will I ever see you or Mother ever again?"

My father shook his head. "It is unlikely, my dear Kara. But when you go to Earth, you will be able to do incredible things that you could never do here because of Earth's yellow sun."

"Wait, Father!"

"I love you, Kara Zor-El."

The pod locked shut before blasting out of the study and off into the atmosphere. Through my tears, I could barely make out the rest of Argo City under me. The rest of Argo had fallen into ruins. The ground was still shaking as I soared above the red and brown skies.

"Initiating suspended animation," a voice said through the pod's piloting system.

As tears continued to stream out of my eyes, I remember feeling a light feeling take over me. My eyes closed with little struggle. I didn't know that I would sleep throughout my journey.

I would eventually wake up once I landed on Earth. When my pod opened, I remember being surrounded by cold. Why was it so cold? Where was I? Where was my baby cousin? As I tried to warm myself, I blew on my hands, but instead, air colder than the air around me blew out of my mouth. I remember gritting my teeth so hard at this that beam of heat shot out of my eyes and onto my hands, instantly warming them, but quickly burning them. I jumped back. How did I manage to do this?

After a couple of days, trying to find my way, I did find my cousin, but not as I knew him.

I remember before I left Krypton, I would watch over my baby cousin often. I would help Aunt Lara with feeding him, changing his diaper, and changing him.

Now, it was different. Kal towered over me. His baby-blue eyes had stayed the same, but his jet-black hair was fuller. His face was shaped.

I remember standing back when I met him. "Who are you? Why are you wearing my family's crest."

"Kara," he said, "it's me, Kal."

I shook my head. "He's a baby! I held him just a few days ago!"

Kal took my hand and flew me to his old home. I remember him showing me relics of this new world: books, movies, pictures.

"Here," he said. Kal passed me a picture.

I took it, holding it between my fingers gently. My eyes widened as I further examined the picture. In it, I stood beside my Uncle Jor-El and Aunt Lara. In her arms, a baby swaddled in a red and blue blanket laid in her arms: Kal-El.

"Just like me, Kara," Kal said, "you can do things that people from Earth can't do."

"Like how I froze and burnt my hands not too long ago?" I asked.

Kal chuckled. "With your arctic-breath and heat-vision?" He nodded. "That sounds about right."

I sighed. If only Kal and I could do these things, there was no way I could be anywhere else. "What about Krypton? Why did I come here so late?"

"Krypton was destroyed," Kal explained, "and when you were heading here, the debris knocked your pod into the Phantom Zone."

"But that's where we send the worst of Krypton's criminals," I replied, "no one can ever escape."

"You did," Kal added, "but it took you twenty-four years."

My eyes widened. "Twenty-four years?!"

He nodded. "That's why you're still twelve years old, but I've aged."

I bit my lip. It was clear to see that Kal was all grown up. He didn't need my protection. "If I can't go back to Krypton, where can I stay?"

Kal introduced me to Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers. They were agents from the Department of Extranormal Operations, an agency that at one point helped Kal when he became what Earth knows him as best: Superman.

I remember seeing Eliza's warm smile. "I know I'm not your mom, sweetie, she said in a light voice, "but Jeremiah and I are willing to help you adapt to Earth. We know it won't be easy, but we will always be by your side."

I couldn't help but smile back at her. Within a few days, I officially became Kara Danvers.

While Kal was Clark Kent, the award-winning journalist from the Daily Planet, as well as Superman in secret, I stayed on the ground. Eliza and Jeremiah gave me glasses to dull out my x-ray and heat-vision. I was enrolled in school like the other kids my age. I had to learn how to conceal my powers so no one would be suspicious. They told me it would keep me safe.

Three years later, the three of us moved to National City, where I would go to school at the local technical high school. Eliza and Jeremiah promised that this would be the closest I could ever get to Krypton's technology. While they were correct, the technology on Earth was ancient compared to the technology on Krypton.

I had heard about Kal's work as Superman. He was treated like a celebrity in Metropolis. No, a god. But the thing was, I knew he wasn't this god. He was a person, a good one at that. Every time I heard of what Kal did, I couldn't help but smile. Whether he stopped criminals, saved civilians from disasters, or in the rarest of cases, fought the strongest of monsters, it reminded me that there is hope for life on Earth. If he could bring joy to people in Metropolis, I could do it here in National City.

Behind Eliza and Jeremiah's back, I donned the House of El coat of arms on my chest, the same big "S" that my cousin wears.

I am Supergirl and I will fight to protect Earth from Krypton's fate.


	2. Batgirl

A strong breeze blew past me, sending my auburn hair waving in the air. From here, I could see just about every part of Gotham City. The sun was barely setting and the city was starting to revive its nightlife.  
I smiled a bit. I hadn’t been this high up in what feels like years, even though it had only been less than twenty-four hours since then. I had always loved observing the city from this high up. The solace I’d have here was enough to clear my head before pouncing into action back on the streets as Batgirl.  
Batgirl, the heroic persona I wear at dusk before having to change back to Barbara by dawn. Batman took me on after he saw what I could do. I guess he didn’t know he had people who looked up to him when he found me. He would teach me how to use his tech and gadgets, but when you’re the classic “tech geek”, you’d know how to hack into his entire surveillance system in less than fifteen minutes. Gotham knew me as Batgirl and for a while, I was at the top of my game, working with Batman, Nightwing, the Robins, and Batwoman. Criminals still ran rampant here in Gotham, but they’d be damned the moment they had to deal with me. When you work with the Dark Knight himself, you become just as scary as him, even after a three-year hiatus.  
I slipped my binoculars over my eyes. Further away, a man in dark clothing held a gun against a younger man’s head. The younger man was trembling with his eyes wide. I sighed as I rolled my eyes. I slipped off my binoculars before gliding off of the building’s ledge.

My feet pounded into the gravelly ground when I landed. I glared up at the mugger. “You people are just a dime-a-dozen around here, huh?” I whipped out a titanium batarang and threw it at the mugger’s glock, making him loosen his grip. With that, I approached him.  
“Hey, Girl-Bat,” the mugger shouted in a Jersey accent before coughing lightly, “it ain’t what it looks like, I swear!”  
I threw up my leg and spun around, kicking him across the face with my foot. “Explain it to me, then.”  
The mugger fell down to the gravel. Another cough escaped him. He glared up at me with his cold, gray eyes. “I’m gettin’ my money back.”  
“And so you decide to rob this man?” I questioned, “in daylight no less?”  
“It was now or never, Girl-Bat,” the mugger growled before he pounced onto my chest.  
I collapsed to the ground. The mugger’s grip was strong as I tried to squirm my way out. I looked over to see the younger man up against the wall. He observed the fight with wide eyes. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead.  
The mugger’s fist jabbed into my cheek. Instantly, I felt it throb. No way was it not gonna bruise. I threw my legs around his chest and wrestled him back. “You got a better excuse?”  
“He stole money from me,” the mugger accused. He let out a loud cough. “Investor my ass.”  
“I didn’t take any money!”  
I turned to see the victim up against the wall still. His body was trembling. “I’m his financial assistant, but I didn’t do anything…” He was cut off by his own coughing.  
Suddenly, I felt the mugger loosen my grip and knock me off of him. I stumbled onto the gravel in front of him. Not thinking, I threw a small canister next to the victim. “Run!” In that instant, the canister went off, emitting an opaque, silver fog in the victim’s direction. I could hear more coughing as the victim ran.  
The click of a gun rang into my ear. My eyes widened as I carefully turned my head. I looked directly into the barrel of the glock. Sweat beads were forming along my hairline as my blood went cold. 

I swear I could experience it all over again: his bloody red smile, his pale face as he let out a shrill laugh. I could feel blood pooling out of my chest and onto the carpet back home and the agonizing pain his bullet had punctured. My dad’s screams, both pleading for my life and threatening the bastard who pulled the trigger. You can’t shoot the Commissioner’s daughter in the abdomen and think you can get away with it. But the crazed gunman, he almost did. He just about always does.

“What’s that?” the mugger snarled. He grinned with his yellowing teeth. “Is Girl-Bat ‘fraid of a gun?”  
No. That’s what I wanted to shout at him, but we both knew that was a lie.

Suddenly, there was a piercing scream. It was so high-pitched, my ears popped. I squeezed my eyes shut as it rang out. I could literally feel the vibrations of the scream. My eyes widened and turned my head. Before us, a young woman with blonde hair and a black, leather bodice with yellow accents stood before us. She had on black combat boots and fishnet stockings to go with it. A black choker ran around her neck. Jet black biker gloves covered her peach-colored hands.  
I smiled. “Thanks for the backup, Black Canary.”  
She smirked as she came over. I got this.” She kicked up her leg and roundhoused the mugger off me. I took her hand as she helped me up.  
“Oh,” the mugger snarled, “you that blonde songbird, huh?”  
“I don’t sing,” she said, “I SCREAM!” She let out another “canary cry”.  
It knocked the mugger off his feet. She went over to him and kept punching his abdomen before striking him right in the face.  
“You don’t fight my partner without facing the consequences, pal,” she spat.  
“Awh, c’mon, pretty bird,” the mugger replied, “a girl like you shouldn’t be roughin’ up a guy like me this way.”  
She kicked him in the temple, knocking him out. “Only Ollie gets to call me ‘Pretty Bird’.” She turned to me, letting out a heavy sigh.  
“You get Gotham’s police force?” I asked.  
“On their way,” she said, “now we gotta get before they find us.”  
I nodded. With that, we ran out of the alleyway as sirens blared nearby.

The sun had set by the time we were on the rooftop. Black Canary, or as I also knew her, Dinah Lance, sat by the ledge, facing away from the rim of the rooftop. Her light gray eyes looked at me. “You froze, Babs,” Dinah said, “that’s not like you.” She leaned into me. “What happened out there?”  
I shook my head. “I don’t want to talk about it.” I looked past Dinah and into the city. The city’s lights made up for the lack of natural light. Light traffic could be heard, even from all the way up here. Things were different up here. Maybe if Gotham was like this, maybe I wouldn’t have been so bitter for those three years I wasn’t Batgirl. Maybe I wouldn’t have had that reason to be so damn bitter at all.  
Dinah waved a hand up and down in front of my eyes. “Hello? Earth to Barbara Gordon.”  
I shook my head. “Sorry, I was just thinking.”  
“About what?” Dinah asked, “how you came back from a three-year hiatus eleven months ago? How you’re freezing up again, too?” She paused for a moment. “That wasn’t like you, Barbara.”  
“I don’t know why it happened,” I explained, “it just...happened.”  
“You just freeze like that out of nowhere?” Her voice was sharper than usual. “C’mon. You and I both know there was a trigger behind it.”  
I shook my head. “Don’t give me the therapy talk. If I wanted that talk, it wouldn’t be with you.” I paused for a second. “No offense.”  
Dinah shrugged. “None taken, but I just don’t get how Barbara Gordon, the Commissioner’s daughter, the first Batgirl, froze while fighting a common thug.”  
I sighed. “It was more than that.”  
It’s always more than that.


	3. Wonder Woman

The deep orange sunrise leaked through the workshop windows. I held out my sword beside the sharpener. Gold embers flew out as the silver blade grew sharper. I smiled at this sight.

I remember seeing these same kind of sparks back on Themyscira when my sisters and I sharpened our swords and arrows. The sharp sound they made rang in my ears.  
“With sharp weapons,” Aunt Antiope would say, “we can conquer our enemies.”  
It is true. With our weapons sharp, we were able to fight any threats that came toward Themyscira more easily. Training was made easier.   
Outside of the blacksmith studios, I remember walking among the marble streets that were surrounded by white marble buildings and lush, green grass. We had statues to honor two of the goddesses above Themyscira: Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, moon, and wild animals; and Athena, the goddess of wisdom. The air was always in spring. I remember the training grounds being just as lush. My sisters would train with bows and sharp swords.   
It was one day of training when I saw the plane land on Themyscira. Nothing from man’s world had come here before. When my sisters and I found Steve, he was bruised and bleeding. He managed to tell us about the war outside. We held a contest to see who would escort him back, but we would all know that whoever left would never be able to return.  
I was her, the champion of Themyscira, despite my mother, Queen Hippolyta, wanting otherwise.  
From then on, I would fight for justice and truth, as what the people of man’s world would call me: Wonder Woman.

I looked up from my work when the door creak open. I turned to see a muscular man. He had a fresh tan on his skin and his short, but shaggy hair was as yellow as the sun. I smiled at him. “Nice to see you, Steve.”  
Steve smiled lightly. “Nice to see you, too, angel.” He covered his mouth with his hand, clearing his throat.  
I put down my sword on the anvil. “How was that mission to Urzkartaga?”  
“Surprisingly smooth,” Steve responded. He slumped over in a chair across from my anvil. He let out a raspy cough. “Then again, I guess you would’ve known if my squad and I were in trouble.”  
“Why do you say that?”  
Steve chuckled. “You’re Wonder Woman.”  
I smirked. “Not even Wonder Woman can do everything, you know.”  
Steve cocked his head slightly. “The public would disagree, Diana. I mean, if you can fly, deflect bullets, be incredibly strong, run amazingly fast.”  
I smiled as I shook my head. “That,” I replied, “is just my training on Themyscira showing.”  
“If you can save me after my plane crashed on your island.”  
“You give me too much credit, Steve,” I added, “the Amazons worked together to nurse you back to health.”  
“But you’re the champion of Themyscira.”  
I bit my lip at that. 

I remember the last round of the games. My mother took Steve’s weapon, a handgun, aimed it at my sisters. “Parry my shot,” she would tell them before she pulled the trigger. When the bullet cut through the air, my two other sisters would try to deflect their shots, but they would miss a single shot, puncturing their chest, but not a vital organ. After my sisters had their turn, it was mine. As my mother shot at me, I quickly shielded myself with the gauntlets that covered my forearms. The bullets bounced off my arms. Not a single part of my body was wounded. With tears in my mother’s eyes, I was hailed the champion of Themyscira and became Steve’s escort to man’s world.

I snapped back into reality. I blinked a couple times.  
Steve leaned forward. “You okay, angel?” he asked. “You looked like you spaced out.”  
“Oh.” I nodded. “No, I’m...I’m good.”  
Steve nodded and leaned back in the chair. Suddenly, his eyes squeezed shut as he let out another cough. This one was stronger, louder, raspier.  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Are you alright, Steve?”  
He nodded. “Yeah. It’s probably just something I got back in Urzkartaga. Nothing crazy, though. I’m sure.”  
“But you should get it checked out,” I suggested, “they would know better than I.”  
“Tomorrow,” Steve said before he was interrupted by his own coughing.  
“Whatever it is, I hope you recover soon.”  
Steve gave me a small smile at me. His gray eyes seemed to twinkle for a moment.  
Suddenly, there was a shrill scream, far off from where Steve and I were. I turned my head at the direction of the sound. I focused on the direction before grabbing my sword.  
“Off to save the day again?” Steve asked.  
I smirked. “As an Amazon,” I answered, “it’s what I do best.”  
I faced away from Steve and ran to grab my shield. I pecked a kiss on Steve’s cheek before running out of the shed. I jumped into the air and flew toward the scream.


	4. Supergirl

"They really have to make us do this?” a kid with black and blue hair asked me as we walked into the National City Technical High gymnasium.  
I had my blonde hair in a ponytail and made sure my black-rimmed glasses were secure on top of my nose. “Unfortunately, Lee.”  
Lee scoffed. “Seriously? We have to go through endurance training after I have to be shoved into the boys’ locker room?” They shook their head. “This place needs to get some gender-neutral locker rooms in this place.”  
I sighed lightly. “I know, Lee.”  
We walked to the other side of the gym and sat on the bleachers when I heard Lee chuckle.  
I turned to them. “What’s funny?”  
“I...I was just thinking of something,” Lee answered, “it’s stupid.”  
I shook my head. “I doubt it’s stupid.”  
“I don’t know if she’d have the power to do it.”  
“Supergirl, you mean?”  
Lee nodded their tan-colored head.

That’s how Lee and I met, unknown to them. After National City distrusted me, I met Lee, all alone. They explained to me how they were non-binary, and the others at school never understood. I explained to them that I knew what it felt like to be an outsider, too. From then on, Supergirl and Lee became best friends. As Kara, I made an effort to sit with them in the cafeteria and stick with them in gym class shortly after and, just like Supergirl, I treated them like an equal.  
In moments like this, I wish I could tell him who I really was.  
“What do you think Supergirl wouldn’t be able to do?” I asked.  
Lee sighed. “You think she could talk to the school officials?”  
I shrugged. “Maybe. I mean, if she can converse with other aliens and find a compromise with them.”  
Lee rose an eyebrow. “Kara, how do you know about that?”  
“I mean, I’m Cat Grant’s intern at CatCo,” I explained, “I gotta be updated on the Supergirl news or Miss Grant will have my head.” I paused for a second. “Plus, Supergirl’s just a good person. What can I say? I like her.”  
“I’m guessing your articles have a positive slant toward Supergirl, huh?” Lee asked.  
“Kinda,” I answered, “as many as Miss Grant will let me.” I looked over to see an African-American boy come out of the boys’ locker room wearing a dark green jersey and dark blue gym shorts. Behind his black-rimmed glasses, his eyes were as brown a dark-chocolate. He was tall, too; tall and thin.  
Suddenly, I felt Lee shaking my shoulder.  
“Hello,” they said, waving their hand up and down over my eyes, “Earth to Kara!”  
Instantly, I blinked, snapping back into reality. “Huh? What?”  
Lee snickered. “Do you know how long you were looking at Ben Rubel?”  
“Oh, uh…” I shrugged. “I don’t know?”  
Lee sighed. “A couple of minutes, but I thought I was going to lose you for the rest of the period.” A chuckle escaped them. “Have you ever thought about, you know, asking him out?”  
My eyes widened. “Oh..no.”  
“Seriously?” Lee asked, “if anything, you’ve got the best chance out of anyone. You intern with him at Catco.”  
I shook my head. “Just because I’m around him doesn’t mean that I stand a chance.”  
“Ever heard of the Mere Exposure Effect?”  
Suddenly, a whistle blew. We turned our head to see a woman with a dark brunette ponytail with an orange whistle around her neck. She looked up at us on the bleachers. “Morning, class,” she greeted in a nasally voice, “today, we’re going to be doing the rope-climbing test. I’m going to test your core strength as well as how close to the bell as you can get.”  
I looked up. Two ropes hung in front of us. The golden glint of the bells were just about at the top of the gym. I looked around. I could see a hint of fear on my peers’ eyes. A small smirk formed on my face. If I was just like them, I’d be peeing my pants, too.  
“To make this this more challenging,” the coach added, “you will go head-to-head with a peer.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows at this. “But that’s not fair!”  
“Shut it, Danvers!” a boy shouted.  
I turned my head to see a blond-haired jock wearing a white and red football jersey and black gym shorts. He was tall and had a bodybuilder shape to him. I glared at him. “Thanks, Chuck.”  
The whistle blew again. On one of the ropes was a girl who was slightly chubby, paired up with one of the other jocks on the other rope. She made it a fourth of the way through before falling. The jock went up and down with ease. He fellow jocks celebrated his minor win.  
I shook my head at this.  
“Okay,” the coach replied, “I need Kara and Chuck.”  
I trudged over to the rope, with Chuck beside me.  
“No way in hell is Legally Blonde gonna catch up with Chuck,” I heard one of the jocks whisper.  
“Ten bucks says she’ll fall off the rope,” another jock responded.  
I glanced over at Chuck.  
He snarled. “Try to keep up, Danvers.”  
I took in a deep breathe. I can do this.  
Suddenly, the whistle went off. Without even thinking, I climbed up the rope, like a squirrel climbing up a tree. My heart was racing. Adrenaline was rushing. No, wait. I had to slow down. I couldn’t reveal my identity like this. I barely slowed down. I didn’t even dare to look down. I squinted my eyes as I saw it: the bell. I reach out my arm and rang the bell before gliding back down and landing on the mat.

I turned to the jocks. Their eyes were wide. One of them had their jaw drop. “Holy shit,” one of them replied.  
I looked up at Chuck. He had just gotten to the bell. His eyebrows were knitted together.  
A smirk grew across my face. “Try and keep up, Chuck.”  
He rang the bell before sliding down. Chuck aimed a glare my way before it was interrupted by a raspy cough. With that, he stormed off to the jock posse.  
Lee approached me with a smile. “That was amazing, Kara!” They embraced me tightly. “How did you do that?”  
“I…” I paused for a second. “I don’t know.” I turned to look over at Ben. He gave me a small smile and nodded slightly. I felt my heart skip a beat.  
Suddenly, I could hear a shriek. It was far away, further than the gym, outside of the school. My eyes widened at the sound.  
“You okay, Kara?” Lee asked.  
I nodded. “Yeah, uh, I’ll be right back.” I ran to the girls’ locker room. Once I got in my stall, I whipped off my glasses. I slipped out of my gym clothes and put on my outfit: a dress with a blue top with the House of El coat of arms in the center and a red skirt. The cape attached to it matched the skirt. With that, I flew out the school.

I flew over to the National City Bank. My eyes widened when I saw it through the building with my x-ray vision. There was a woman with white hair with black streaks mixed in it. Skull makeup caked her face. Her bodysuit was black and white with white boots to go with it. She growled at the bank tellers behind the counter. My heart pumped faster as I flew into the building. “What’s with the makeup?” I asked, “I thought Halloween wasn’t until October.”  
The woman glared at me. “”If it isn’t Supergirl. I’ve heard about you, the ‘girl of steel’.”  
“And my cousin has told me about you,” I replied, “Silver Banshee.” I put my fists up.  
Suddenly, her jaw dropped as she let out a shrill scream. The soundwaves flew me back into an ATM, crushing it. I stumbled back up. I flew over to Silver Banshee and slammed my fist into her cheek.  
She fell down, but quickly side-sweeped me down. She screamed back at me, forcing back into a wall, my head slamming into it. She smirked. “Try and keep up, Supergirl.”  
I gritted my teeth before jumping back on my feet and jabbing her in the side.  
Silver Banshee reacted with another shrill scream.  
I was forced back into the wall again. I took in a deep inhale before letting out my arctic breath on her.   
She was knocked back off, frozen for a bit. I flew into her and knocked her off her feet. Silver Banshee stumbled for a bit before staring me down. She ran toward me.   
Not even thinking, I shot her chest with my heat-vision.  
“Ahh!” Silver Banshee shouted. Her eyes were squeezed shut. She gritted her teeth.  
I approached Silver Banshee, my heat-vision still burning into her chest. “You gonna try and scream now?”  
Silver Banshee grunted and glared at me.

Suddenly, there was a woosh, like something had flown into the bank. I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders.  
“Supergirl, enough.”  
I blinked off my heat-vision. I turned to see a strongly-built man with jet-black hair. He wore a blue body suit with the House of El coat of arms on his chest. “Kal…?”  
Superman pulled me away. “Supergirl, you’ve been excessive.”  
“But---”  
“But nothing,” Superman added, “I’ve got it under control right now.”  
I looked into Superman’s ocean-blue eyes. “Kal…”  
Superman leaned down.“We’ll talk later, Kara,” he whispered in my ear. He turned his back to me before flying over to the sprawled-out Silver Banshee. As he picked up Silver Banshee by her arm, he let out a small cough.  
I shook my head and flew out of the bank. This hadn’t been the first time. Whether it was Silver Banshee or just a random street-mugger, Kal always found a way to intervene, even if he had to fly from Metropolis to National City. I don’t think I ever got the chance.  
It was just another day saved, all thanks to Superman.


	5. Batgirl

There was a cool breeze that carried a red and orange leaf past me. The sun shone through the cloudless sky as I walked along the pathways through Gotham State University’s campus. A techno-pop song pumped through my earbuds. I carried my violet and yellow backpack to a gray building.  
“Sup, Barbara!” someone shouted.  
I lifted my hand up, acknowledging their greeting. Other kids walked around the quad from building to building with book-bags strapped on their backs.  
Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around.   
“Hey, Babs,” a tall girl with short black hair greeted. There was a warm smile on her olive-colored face.  
I smiled. “Morning, Alysia.” We started to walk around. “How have classes been for you?  
Alysia shrugged. “Could be worse. It’s worse without a caffeinated pick-me-up.”  
I chuckled. “And Jo?”  
Alysia nodded. “Very well.”  
I smiled.   
“If I never joined that environmental activist group, I would’ve never met her,” Alysia added, “still can’t believe I would’ve found someone like her in a place as big as here.”  
“Gotham isn’t that big.”  
“But big enough to get lost.”  
I nodded slightly. “All because of that drama that happened earlier this year, huh?”  
Alysia shrugged. “I guess so.” She paused for a moment right before her smile faded away. “Hey, did you hear?”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Hear about what?”  
“There’s the sickness going around,” Alysia said, “a lot of the boys on my floor of my dorm caught it. They’ve been hacking away so loud I can barely sleep.”  
“Damn, really?”  
Alysia nodded. “That bad.”  
“What about the girls on your floor?”  
Alysia shook her head. “Not yet,” she answered, “but it’s only a matter of time.”  
After a couple moments, we went up to the building’s door and slipped inside.

The classroom’s walls were a navy blue. Desktops covered the many tables in the lab. I sat by one of the bulky computers and turned my chair to face the front. Students walked in after me. Many of the boys that flooded in were coughing. Some were ghostly pale. My eyes widened slightly at the sight. Their faces looked almost...clownish.   
I swiped out my phone from my backpack and snapped a picture of one of the boys while they were signing onto their computer. I quickly opened the Messaging app. I sighed at this and starting typing.  
“Doesn’t this look familiar to you, Dick?” I texted before attaching the picture to the message. With that, I hit send.  
I was about to send the picture to Dinah before I heard the door swing open. I tucked away my phone into my backpack as a lanky man with gray-rimmed glasses. His face was incredibly pale.  
“Good morning class,” he said. He let out a raspy cough, covering her mouth with a fisted hand.  
“Morning, Professor Krupke,” I greeted.  
Professor Krupe nodded at me before he let out another raspy cough.  
“Um...are you okay?” a girl behind me asked.  
Professor Krupke nodded. “Just a bit under the weather this morning.”  
I rose an eyebrow. “A bit?”  
He walked over to a thermostat on the other side of the wall. He cranked the heat up as high as he could.  
“Professor,” another girl said, “it’s mid-September.”  
“It’s cold in here,” Professor Krupke replied.  
The air in the computer lab was about 65 degrees. It was toasty enough for mid-September. To Professor Krupke, though, it didn’t matter. He walked back to the front of the class. “I apologize, class.” He let out another cough. “Take out your homework from last class.”

The class seemed to drag with Professor Krupke’s coughing. When the class ended, I was the first out. In the halls, I passed numerous boys with the same symptoms: coughing and pale skin. My eyes widened at this. I understood that in college, sickness spread like wildfire, but this seemed too irregular. I took out my phone.  
One new message from Dick  
I opened the text message.  
“This definitely sounds like Joker’s doing,” Dick texted, “but I think if you’re really gonna want to get down to it, you’re gonna have to hunt down Harley for this one.”  
I sighed as I read Dick’s text.

Harley Quinn. This was a name I haven’t heard in a long time. I remember what Bruce told me about her. She was a registered psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. During her time there, she had to treat Joker, the only person who is truly “untreatable”. But Harley, or at the time, Dr. Harleen Quinzel, thought she could cure him. As she thought she was getting closer to a cure, she realized that she was falling in love with the Clown Prince of Crime himself. To grab his attention, she found harlequin grab and dressed up in it, all while breaking him out. If it wasn’t bad enough, the thing that binded her to him was when he dragged her to Ace Chemicals. He pushed her into the same toxins that infected his mind and bleached his skin. To him, it was a test to see if she was as desperate as she had displayed. And she was. With that, she became the Clown Princess of Crime in Gotham City.  
It wasn’t until not too long ago when she finally realized how much of a manipulative, ruthless, twisted, clown that he is. From what I heard, she set Joker up, got away scott-free. All I know now is that she’s in Gotham. Where in Gotham? Who knows. If I know Harley as well as I do, she’s barely keeping a low-profile. She’s doing something.  
But the question remains, was she behind this? Despite her split, Harley Quinn had the mentality to do something as devious as this.

“Maybe,” I texted Dick back. I went over and sent the picture to Dinah. “Something’s up and I need your help.”  
She quickly texted back. “Who do you think is behind it?”  
“Dick said it was either Joker or Harley.”  
“This definitely looks like something Harley would do,” Dinah texted, “I know she broke up with the Joker, but you know how she is.”  
I sighed. “True.” I thought for a moment before replying. “Okay, we might need another person to help us find Harley.”  
“Who do you have in mind?” Dinah texted.  
I smirked as I typed in my response. “You remember Kara?”


	6. Wonder Woman

A couple of hours passed before I had come back. Steve was in the living room. A cyan-colored fleece blanket was wrapped around him. His face was pale and looked moist. He looked up at me. “How did the ‘superheroing’ go, angel?”  
I shrugged. “Petty robbery from a bank. You know how it is.” I leaned down next to him.  
Steve let out a weak chuckle. “That’s what they always think. Hell, even in war, your enemies think they can get away with committing war crimes.” He let out a rough cough.  
I furrowed my eyebrows at this.  
“I remember the last time I was out on a mission,” Steve recounted, “that Andres Cadulo guy is a good example. He abducts women and force them to be servants to this mystical god back in Urzkartaga. Hell, he got me at one point.”  
I nodded. “I remember that one, Steve.”  
“He really thought he could get away with it. That’s not even mentioning how he thought what he was doing was right.” He sighed. “Lord only knows what else he was coercing his hostages to do.”  
I nodded at that. I pressed my palm up against his forehead. It was as cold as ice. I recoiled my hand as I felt myself cringe.  
“How bad is it?” Steve asked.  
“Cold,” I answered. I stood back up and went to get a purple blanket from a linen closet in the bathroom. When I came back over to Steve, I wrapped the blanket around him. “Snow could barely be colder.”  
Steve chuckled. “And yet I’m still sweating.” Another cough escaped him. Thick, yellow-green phlegm shot out of his mouth.  
“You need to rest,” I told him, “that and see the doctor.”  
“As soon as I can, Diana,” he said.  
I sighed. “I am concerned for you.”  
“I know you are.” He chuckled. “Ever since we left Themyscira.”  
“Ever since your plane crash,” I explained. I thought back on it for a moment. “I left them to bring you back here,” I added, “it’s my duty to look out for you.” I smiled. “But it hasn’t ever been an obligation.”  
“I’m happy it hasn’t been,” Steve commented.  
Suddenly, there was a loud scream, a group of piercing screams, but all far away. I shot up and looked to the outside of the house.  
“No rest for the wicked, huh?” Steve teased.  
“Or for the hero,” I replied. I paced to the door. “I should be back before too late.” I looked back at Steve. “Please, honey, rest.”  
Steve gave me a small nod. “Was planning on it.” He gave me a small smile. “Stay safe, angel,” he said in a hoarse voice.  
I couldn’t help but smile back at him. With that, I opened the door and flew off.

I remember how my mother stood before the Amazons the night of the contest to see who would bring Steve back to what we considered “Man’s World” on Themyscira.  
“Amazons,” my mother announced, “behold…”  
I walked out of the arena to red flower petals thr0wn like confetti. Lit torches were raised above me as I made my way out.  
“Our gift to the world,” my mother added, “our champion!”  
The cheers were deafening as I walked toward my mother and Steve. In her hands, I noticed she was holding the Lasso of Truth. As I approached her, she handed the Lasso of Truth to me.  
“This was forged by the gods,” my mother explained, “given to Amazons as a symbol their trust in us and our duty to them. Since we were given it, we have upheld it as a treasure of Themyscira. It is as strong as the soul who wields it. Now, the Amazons, as well as I, entrust it to you, Diana.”  
I took the Lasso of Truth from my mother’s hands. “For my sisters,” I said, “I shall use it with wisdom and love, Queen Hippolyta.”  
My mother’s teal-colored eyes started to well up with tears. The water seemed to make the color of her irises more vivid. “Princess Diana.”  
My lips quivered at this. “Mother.”  
My mother swiftly pulled me into a strong embrace. “Daughter,” she replied as her voice cracked back.  
It felt like eons before we pulled away. “I promise you, I will return.”  
My mother shook her head. “Do not make such promises.”  
“I will,” I assured her, “I love you, Mother. I will make us proud.” With that, I walked away from her. “Steve, it is time.”

I found myself above a city square. Small shops lined the quiet street. On the green, there was a trailer set up for what would have been a band to play. However, people were running away from the makeshift stage. I flew down to see people racing from me, eyes filled with fear. For a second, it startled me. Then, I turned behind me. There was a large, feline-human hybrid with orange, black, and beige fur. Cheetah prints were scattered along its body. The creature’s light auburn mane was mangled. An orange and black striped tail swung from behind it. The creature’s amber eyes glared at me.  
“Diana,” the creature growled.  
“Cheetah,” I replied as I glared back, “why are you causing chaos? These people have done nothing to you!”  
“The band’s music was like nails on a chalkboard,” she shot back.  
I shook my head at this as I approached her. “You and I both know that wasn’t the case.”  
Cheetah let out a snicker. “Maybe, Amazon,” she responded, “but you did.” She gritted her teeth. “You didn’t save me! And now, I’m cursed to roam the world like this.” She let out a low growl. “You made me this way, and now...you will pay!” Cheetah lept at me, her sharp claws, about to pierce my skin.   
I guarded myself with my golden shield. This knocked her over to the green. “Your anger is displaced.”  
Cheetah stumbled up and glared at me. “But you care about this area. Isn’t targeting them just targeting you?”  
I shook my head. “That’s no way to deal with your rage, Barbara Ann. You are better than this.”  
She lept onto me. I tried to block the attack, but she pushed my arm back. I fell back.  
“If you really were the ‘Wonder Woman’ those mortals look to you as,” Cheetah spat, “then maybe you could’ve saved me from becoming this.”  
I frowned at this. My eyebrows knitted together. “Cheetah--”  
With that, Cheetah slashed my cheek. It stung as a line of blood trickled down. I saw her smirk at my pain. Not even thinking, I bent my legs and pushed her off of me. Surprisingly, her grasp was weaker than I had thought. I jumped back onto my feet. I whipped my Lasso of Truth around before aiming and throwing it. It tied around Cheetah’s waist. With that, I pulled Cheetah toward me. “This must stop, Cheetah.”  
Cheetah growled again. “Not on my watch.” She jumped and spun around, kicking my cheek.  
I landed on the asphalt of the street. My metal gauntlets scratched against it. I glared back up at Cheetah.  
She smirked. “Aww, did I destroy your precious gauntlets, Wonder Woman?” Cheetah snickered. “Is your suit next?”  
I swiftly sweep-kicked her down as I got up. I let out a few pants. “This must end, Cheetah!”  
A smirk rolled across her face.  
I showed off my sword. This was her last warning.  
She panted before she let out an indistinguishable shout before she pounced on me.   
My heart raced as I ran toward her, my sword and Lasso of Truth in hand.


	7. Supergirl

The document was blank on the screen as I heard the tapping of my colleagues typing away at their computers. I sighed at this and slumped my cheek into my palm.  
“Supergirl,” Kal said in the back of my mind, “you’ve been excessive.”  
A pit formed in my stomach as I bit my lip. I had done good before, right? I stopped a runaway bus from slamming into students from National City elementary. I’ve stopped the occasional mugging in the alleyways at night. I even got the chance to fight a few petty metahumans. Well, the last one always seemed to get Kal’s attention somehow. I could only get about halfway through each fight before he broke us up. I bit my lip at this consideration. I had a pattern, didn’t I? Maybe Supergirl was just too reckless to be…  
“Kara!” a voice said loudly.  
I jumped in my chair and turned around. I was greeted by Ben’s warm, brown eyes. A sigh escaped me. “Oh goodness,” I said, with my hand over my chest, “you startled me.”  
“Pretty deep in thought, huh?” Ben asked.  
I nodded. “I guess you could say that.” Another sigh escaped me.  
“You okay?”  
I shrugged before playing with the end of my blonde ponytail.  
“You seem upset,” Ben added.  
“I…I got into a fight with a relative,” I explained, “long-story short.”  
Ben pursed his lips slightly. “I get that. I used to get into quite a few fights with my mom. It used to frustrate me so much.”  
“What would you two fight about?” I asked.  
“Just about everything under the sun,” Ben answered, “grades, girls, jobs, colleges, house rules, hell even the idea of supers running around National City.”  
I bit my lip lightly at that.  
“And those fights used to frustrate the crap out of me,” Ben added, “like, I wish I could put some sense into her.” He paused for a second. “But after a while, I’d understand where she was coming from. You know?”  
I shrugged. “Kinda.” Even if it was safe to tell Ben that I am Supergirl, he wouldn’t get these fights between me and Kal. They’re too specific. Having a fight with Kal wasn’t the same as having a fight with your mom over house rules. It was stronger than that. “Thank you.”  
Suddenly, Ben let out a strong cough. He bent over slightly and covered his mouth with a balled up hand. His eyes were squeezed shut for a couple seconds.  
I knitted my eyebrows together. “Are you okay, Ben?”  
The coughing fit lasted a few more moments.  
“Ben?” I asked again.  
After a few seconds, Ben stood back up straight up and nodded. “Yeah,” he answered, “I’m okay.”  
“It didn’t sound it.”  
Ben shrugged. “The other boys back at National Tech having been have been coughing like this, too.”  
“That bad?” Suddenly, I could hear the sharp sound of heels clicking against tile. It came from a few floors below. My eyes widened. “Cat’s coming.”  
Ben furrowed his eyebrows. “Huh?”  
It was only a few more moments before I heard the ding of the elevator doors. I turned my head to see a woman in her early thirties walk out. Her short, blonde hair was in curls. Round sunglasses covered her eyes. A tight, navy blue dress hugged her torso with a golden bangle wrapped around her wrist. The black heels on her feet continued to click as she walked.  
“Good afternoon, Miss Grant,” I greeted. I followed her close behind to her office. “I sent you the editorial on the green bank National City plans on establishing. Just as you asked.”  
Cat snickered. “As if taxpayer money will actually stop climate change.” She walked behind her desk and leaned over. “We’d rather be better off with skipping school and work just like that Greta. That’d get the message across.”  
“But you asked me to write it,” I replied, “plus, don’t we need to be objective…?”  
“Bias is everywhere, no matter where you go,” Cat replied, “nothing is ever truly objective anymore.”  
I sighed at this. I pushed up my glasses for a second. “I mean, I guess.”  
Cat smirked as she slipped off her glasses. Her hazel eyes glared at me. “There’s no ‘guessing’ about it. Even the article you sent me, you have a bias of...basic.”   
My eyebrows shot up. “Basic?”   
“Passable,” she added, “but still basic, Kiera.”  
I sighed. “My name is Kara, Miss Grant.”  
Cat plopped down into her cushy, swivel chair. “While I have you here, though, I’m giving you your next assignment. Maybe with this one, you can spice it up a bit.”  
“What’s the topic on?”  
“Well,” Cat began, “something...interesting happened earlier today.”  
I rose an eyebrow. “What happened?”  
“I need a report on the latest Supergirl incident,” Cat answered, “Supergirl tries to save the day, only for Superman to swoop in and take over.”  
My heart dropped at this. “We are?”  
“It was at the National City Bank with...uh...what’s her name?” Cat snapped her fingers a couple of times. “Ghoul girl?”  
“Silver Banshee,” I corrected.  
“Right. Sorry, she looked like looked like love-child Ghostface and Poltergeist.” She paused for a second. “And those skull earrings, though? She really thought that looking like she walked out a horror movie was in.” She scoffed. “It’s overkill.”  
“Do you want me to write about the Silver Banshee’s...fashion sense?”  
Cat rose an eyebrow. “Do I look that low-brow to you?”  
I shook my head. “No.”  
Cat smirked. “Good.”  
“But um...what if we wrote about her in more of a...positive light?”  
Cat rose an eyebrow. “Come again?”  
“What if we wrote about what she has done, rather than focusing on her faults?”  
“But it isn’t relevant,” Cat responded, “people want the latest updates, not a story that’s gone stale.” She paused for a second. “Maybe we should ask why we have Supergirl in National City if all Superman will do is clean up after her messes. I suggest you add that into your report, Kiera.”  
I huffed. “Miss Grant, for the last time, my name is Kar---”  
“I need a full report on it, stat!”  
I nodded. “Yes, Miss Grant.” With that, I left her office and speed-walked back to my desk.

“A report on Supergirl’s flop?” Ben asked.  
“I guess so,” I answered, “and I’m starting to think that CatCo doesn’t have the nicest thoughts about her.”  
Ben chuckled.  
I rose an eyebrow. “What?”  
“You just noticed how critical Cat is now?”  
“I meant about Supergirl.”  
“She’s not afraid of tearing down anybody,” Ben replied, “not even the Girl of Steel herself. Or Superman, for that matter.”  
“But they give her so much crap,” I said, “don’t they know the good she’s been trying to do.”  
Ben cocked his head slightly. “Kind of. I mean, she’s done a couple of things here and there.”  
“Because the people of National City aren’t giving her a chance. If people did, they’d see what good she can do. She’s stopped accidents. She’s intervened with muggings. She’s fought against rogue metahumans in the past. Supergirl can do a lot of good if the public give her the chance.”  
Ben smirked. “Sounds like you’re a Supergirl aficionado, huh?”  
I shrugged. “I’m a reporter, Ben. I have to be astute to that kind of stuff if I want to be on top of my game.”  
Suddenly, my phone vibrated. I pulled it out.  
One new message from Babs  
I unlocked my phone and read the text.  
“Hey Kara,” Babs texted me, “Dinah and I need to locate someone. Can you fly over as soon as you get the chance?”  
“What’s up?” Ben asked as I was reading the text message.  
“They don’t call me ‘Supergirl’ for nothing,” I texted Babs back. With that, I hit send. I looked up at Ben. “Nothing.”


	8. Batgirl

“So is this where she last was?” Black Canary asked as we looked down on the city.  
I nodded. “Should be. Knowing her, she’s most likely working here.”  
We stood on the roof of one of the buildings. I had my black binoculars in hand. Through the lens, I could see it: The Club of Hearts, Gotham’s new cabaret club. The cursive sign was lit up in a bright, neon-red light. If it wasn’t the traffic or the buildings lighting up the skyline this early in the evening, it was this club’s neon sign.  
“You think her ‘Mistah J’ is gonna be okay with her working there?” Black Canary snickered.  
“They broke up.”  
She was still lightly laughing. “Yeah, right, Babs. And I’m Wonder Woman.” She went back to her laughing.  
“I’m being for real,” I shot back, “you seriously didn’t hear about her setting Joker up for the GCPD?”  
“When I’m not in Gotham,” Black Canary said, “I’m back at home in Star City with Ollie or at a gig for Ashes on Sunday.” She paused for a second. “Can you fill me in, then?”  
I sighed. “About two months back, we were having a music festival. I guess Joker decided it be funny to replace the band’s pyrotechnics with actual bombs. When he tried to detonante the place, it didn’t work.”  
“Because Harley messed with it?”  
“That’s what we think,” I adeed, “anyways, so Joker was furious, so instead, he decided to keep them hostage. Kill anyone who was running. I guess what he didn’t know was that Harley took his actual gun and replaced it with his gag gun.”  
“The one with the stupid ‘BANG!’ flag that pops out?”  
I nodded. “And then Harley armed the pyrotechnics so that the fireworks would shoot right at Joker.”  
Black Canary chuckled. “That’s one way to end a relationship alright.”  
Suddenly, there was a whoosh. I put down my binoculars and turned around. Supergirl stood there in her blue top and red skirt with the gold belt around her. The “S” symbol in the center of her top was facing right at me. Her long, blonde hair waved in the wind, as did her red cape. Her blue eyes seemed to light up as she looked back at me.  
I smiled. “You came.”  
Supergirl smiled. “They don’t call me ‘Supergirl’ for nothing.”  
I ran up to her and hugged her tightly. “I missed you, Kara.”  
“I missed you, too, Babs.”  
After a moment, we pulled back from each other.   
“So why did you call me here?” Supergirl asked.  
“We have our suspicions on Harley,” Black Canary said, “that she’s with the Joker.”  
Supergirl furrowed her eyebrows. “I thought Harley Quinn left Joker to be caught by the Gotham City police?”  
Black Canary’s eyes widened at Supergirl. “You knew, too?”  
“I have super-hearing, remember?” Supergirl replied, “but Miss Grant would kill me if I wasn’t on top of the news.”  
Black Canary sighed. “That’s right, I forgot about Kara Danvers, the CatCo intern.”  
“Shh!” I put a finger to my lips. “You really want to give her identity away?”  
“Like anyone can hear us from all the way up here,” Black Canary replied, “I doubt even Bruce can hear us.”  
“You’d be surprised about him. He’s got eyes all around the city.” I slipped the binoculars over my eyes again. I peered back at the Club of Hearts. “Maybe he knows as much as we do. Bruce is Batman after all.”  
Black Canary sighed. “Okay, when can we swoop in and get Harley now?”  
I shook my head. “I don’t see her just yet.”  
“Are you sure she’s even here then?”  
“She’s just not on yet.”  
“Not on?” Black Canary questioned.  
“She’s a dancer there.”  
Black Canary chuckled. “I should’ve seen that one coming.”  
“Guys,” Supergirl said, “they just calledfor her. She’ll be on in about five. We gotta get her.”  
“Dinah and I will go in,” I said, “Supergirl, you stay outside the club. Just in case something goes wrong.”  
Supergirl nodded. She took Black Canary and flew her down.  
I smiled a bit as I watched this. “I missed you a lot, Kara.” I jumped off of the roof. As I got halfway, I whipped open my cape and glided my way down.

Supergirl and Black Canary were already by the entrance. The red neon light shone down on us.  
“How are you guys going to get her?” Supergirl asked.  
I nodded. “I know what to do.”  
Supergirl gave me a small smile. “If that’s the case, I’ll be outside.” She shot up into the night sky.  
I turned to Black Canary. “Ready, Dinah?”  
She nodded. “I was born ready, Bats.”  
I faced the door. “Let’s go then.” I reached my arm out and opened the door.  
The interior was just as bright red as its flashy exterior. Red, velvet loveseats were placed around. Each of the small, round tables had chairs around it. All of them faced a small stage. The curtains were red and velvet. Damask patterns covered it. I turned to the side to see a red and black bar. Drinks of different colors and brightness lined the shelves behind the bar.  
Black Canary stormed over to the bar. A man with a cheap tuxedo smiled at her. “Well, if it isn’t the songbird herself. I haven’t seen Black Canary in these parts of Gotham in a while. You are quite the sight for sore eyes.”  
Black Canary smirked. “I came to get a drink, not a compliment.”  
“I would’ve thought you come here as a dancer.”  
“I already have a job, prick,” Black Canary shot back, “ever heard of Ashes on Sunday?”  
“Well, you came for a drink. What can I get for you?”  
“Not too light, not too strong.”  
“Ahh, Goldilocks-ing it,” the man said.  
“Look, Batgirl and I are here to just contact one of your dancers and in the meantime, I’d like a drink with little fuss. I’m not asking for small talk.”  
The man sighed. He turned around and plucked a rectangular-shaped, glass bottle. The liquid inside of it was mixture of white, gray, and black. He poured it in a martini glass and slid it over to Black Canary. “We call it ‘the Penguin’.”  
Black Canary smirked. “You’re naming drinks after villains in Gotham. That’s cute.” Her voice had a distinct edge to it.  
“And vigilantes,” the man added, “it’s our little thing here in the Club of Hearts.” He turned to me. “I can get you an Orphan on the rocks.”  
I shook my head. “I don’t drink. Especially drinks named after people I’ve worked with.” I slipped in a tip before we moved away from the bar.  
Black Canary took a swig of the drink. Her eyes widened for a second before she squeezed them shut. She forced the drink down her throat. Her eyes popped back open. “Ugh!” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.  
“Was it bad?” I asked.  
“It was as grossly rich as Oswald Cobblepot himself.”  
I chuckled. “I think that might’ve been the point.”  
“And now,” a male announcer said over a speaker, “for the next act of the night: Miss Harley Quinn!”  
Black Canary and I turned our heads to the stage. The curtains pulled back. Harley had the skimpiest clown costume I had ever seen. Her skin was paler than paper. Her bleached hair was curled, with pink ends on the right and blue ends on the left. There was a small heart tattoo below her right eye. She wore a black and red corset in the familiar checkered pattern. The small tattoos on her legs were on display as they were wrapped around a pole. Harley flashed a brilliantly white smile behind her cherry red lipstick.  
Men hooted and hollered at her, with some being cut off by their own coughing.  
“Oh my God,” I said to myself.  
Right then, the music started playing. It sounded like a slow, techno ballad. It emitted an avant-garde vibe. She started to dance, making sure every single part of her could be seen clearly. The men only hollered more at the sight, with even more coughing, following them.  
Black Canary snickered. “They’re really gonna jerk off to a female Pennywise? Is that their fantasy? To hook up with a serial killer clown?”  
I shook my head. “Harley’s already the serial killer clown.”  
Harley climbed up the pole, only to spin all the way down and ended with a perfect split. She smirked as she was able to wrap her legs around and started up hump against it. After a bit, Harley whipped her head around, messing up her hair. After a moment, she got back down. She walked around the pole, surveying her audience. A smirk appeared on her face as she walked toward one of the guys. She looked down at him before suddenly popping and locking. This was enough to warrant the men to hoot and holler at her more.  
As much as I wanted to turn away, I couldn’t. It was like a car wreck you couldn’t help but stare at. I just had to see how much more of a trainwreck this would be.  
After what felt like ages, the music finished, making Harley’s routine finally end. I finally let out a relieved sigh as the men whistled at Harley once she left the stage. I turned to my side to see Black Canary back at the bar. I walked over to see her have a shot glass with a bit of red in it. “I thought the ‘Penguin’ drink was bad enough.”  
“Yeah,” Black Canary said, “but the ‘Red Hood’ drink makes up for it big time.” In that instant, she downed the rest of the shot.  
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Harley heading out of the dressing rooms and into the audience, most likely leaving. I looked back to Black Canary. “Harley’s leaving,” I told her, “let’s go!” With that, we ran up to Harley as she was about to reach the door.  
Harley’s light blue eyes widened. “B-Girl an’ Dinah!” She flashed us a smile. “Haven’t seen you two in a while!” She turned to me. “Well, I see ya around every once in a while.”  
I sighed. “Hi, Harley.”  
“Ya like my show?” Harley asked, “I’ve been practicin’ really hard on my flexibility. Gotta do ‘em crunches an’ splits.”  
“And the pole,” Black Canary shot back.  
“Why are you here?” I asked.  
“Why’re you here?” Harley questioned. She raised her eyebrows at us.  
“We ask the questions, Harley.” Black Canary balled her fist.  
She rolled her eyes at us. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I ‘eard it all before. B-Man used ta give me that when I was Mistah J’s broad.”  
“So you admit you were a side-piece?” Black Canary chuckled.  
I let out a sigh. “Why are you here? What about Arkham? Or any psychiatry practice. I’ve read that you were an excellent psychiatrist.”  
Harley laughed as she shook her head. “Ya really think I could go back, B-Girl? Afta all I’ve done? You of all people should know I can’t go back, B-Girl.”  
“As Harleen Quinzell.”  
“Well, it ain’t gonna happen,” Harley replied, “I’ve done too much damage ta go back. Now, I take care of my side of Gotham, and you take care of yours.”  
“You’re only causing more chaos from what Batman told me.”  
“Ever heard of fightin’ fire with fire?”  
I sighed. “Look, that’s not the reason Black Canary and I are here.”  
“Then why?”  
“You know better than anyone if Joker’s behind something.”  
Harley smirked. “Ain’t he always up ta somethin’?”  
“This is different,” Black Canary responded, “there’s an illness that’s targeting people to have extreme symptoms. Most notably coughing and pale skin.”  
Harley shrugged. “So?”  
“Pale skin,” I repeated, “that sound familiar to you?”  
“Ya sure you’re not just miskatin’ it fer somethin’ else?”she asked, “I mean, he’s despicable, but he ain’t one ta create an illness. I think ya barkin’ up the wrong tree.”  
“Joker’s smart and has an ego. Something like this being pulled by him wouldn’t really be surprising.”  
“Well, I don’t know. Really. Haven’t seen him since he went BOOM at that music festival a while back.” She giggled at that. “That was one hell of a sight ta see.”  
Suddenly, an older client snuck up behind Harley. Before I could intervene, he grabbed onto her ass.  
Harley’s eyes widened as she swung around, slamming her elbow into his jaw. “Ya wanna piece of me, big guy?” she spat.  
“A piece of ass is what you are!” He snarled right before he tried to grab her torso.  
Not even thinking, I took out a Batarang and threw it at his shoulder, knocking him back. It was only a few moments before men surrounded us, ready to attack. I furrowed my eyebrows as I balled my fists. I slammed that fist into one of the guys’s temple. He was stunned for a second before he tried to get back at me. I spun, kicking the side of his wrist. My heart was pounding.   
Harley glared at him. “Yer lucky I don’t got my mallet on me!”  
I glanced over at Black Canary to see her holding her own against one of the men who was built. She jabbed her elbow into the side of his neck and jammed her knee into his groin before shoving him down. “If you’re smart,” she growled, “you’ll stay down.”  
Suddenly, I felt something tackle me down to the ground. When I collapsed to the ground, I looked up to see a bald man gritting his teeth at me. Right as I was about to squirm my way out, I felt the cool barrel of a pistol in his hand. For a split second, I froze.  
The man grinned. “Found your weakness, huh, Batgirl?”  
My eyes widened. “Supergirl, now!”  
There was a woosh before I saw a red and blue blur take down the man. Supergirl gave me a hand. “You called?”  
I took her hand. “Yeah, I did.” With that, I stood back up and balled my fists at the men coming our way. “Ready, Supergirl?”  
“I was born ready.”  
With that, we charged at the brawlers. Supergirl was able to slow them down with her arctic breath. Some were able to get out of the way and run toward her. With her super-strength, she was able to shove them off. The man that had tackled me shot at her, but the bullet bounced off of her. “I thought you’d learn from my cousin that bullets don’t work on us?” She flew over and snapped the gun in half with just her bare hands.  
Three of the men charged at me. I threw a few more Batarangs, each one stunning one of the men. I could hear one of the men approaching me from behind. I jumped up and kicked him as I spun in the air. A pant escaped me once I landed on the ground, like I had just finished running a marathon. My heart was racing as adrenaline ran through my veins. I frowned with a glare in my eyes. “Who else wants to fight?”  
Suddenly, there was a reeling sound. A blur of crimson and black flew in. My eyes widened.  
A woman with a ruby-red wig and a black jumpsuit came in. She had a deep red bat emblem on her chest. She wore a black bat cowl over her face. Her gray eyes looked to me. “What the hell, Batgirl?” Her voice was coarse.  
“I didn’t start this,” I responded. I knew her. Kate Kane, better known to Gotham City as Batwoman. She’s the ex-military soldier cousin of Bruce Wayne himself. She’s been a part of the Batfamily by blood, but relatively new in the sense of her joing him to fight crime.  
“That’s what they all say,” Batwoman shot back.  
One of the men came at Batwoman. She came at them in swift strikes to the neck and chest. Another man came at her. Suddenly, he was stunned by an arrow piercing his forearm. I looked over to see a purple-hooded woman with dark, curly hair and a light olive complexion. Her outfit was deep violet, as was her domino mask. Her outfit had white lines at the center of her chest and sleeves. In her hand, she held a crossbow.  
“We’re in some deep shit if Batwoman and you had to come in,” I replied as I fought off the men. I knew her, too. Helena Bertinelli, the Huntress. She joined the Batfamily a little after I was paralyzed four years back. Before Cassandra Cain, she took up my mantle of ‘Batgirl’ before she found that crossbows were more her thing.  
Huntress smirked. “You’re catching on.” She shot at the other men charging at us, each one getting an arrow in either the shoulder, arm, or leg.  
Batwoman glared at me. “I need to talk to you four.”  
I felt a shiver run down my spine. My hands trembled slightly.

Batwoman and Huntress led Supergirl, Black Canary, Harley, and I out onto the surprisingly empty street. Then again, it was early enough in the night where the sun had just set.  
“I need to know just what the hell happened in there,” Batwoman growled.  
Black Canary’s eyes pierced at her. “Well, it wasn’t me. Hey, why don’t you ask ur neighborhood clown princess?” She stuck out her thumb at Harley, who had a guilty smile on her face.  
Batwoman frowned at her. “Wipe off that grin, Quinn, or I’ll wipe it off for you.” She balled her gloved hand into a tight fist.  
Harley smirked. “Ya really think B-Man hasn’t already threatened me with that crap before?”  
“Listen to her,” Huntress replied. Her crossbow was aimed at Harley’s chin.  
Harley threw her hands up. “Alright, alright. Geez. Yeah, it was me. But the guy had it coming.”  
Batwoman’s eyes widened. “You assaulted someone?!”  
I got in-between Harley and Batwoman. “Okay, okay. Stop.” I sighed. “In Harley’s defense, her ex-client was grabbing Harley. In a way, she was just trying to defend herself. I guess the other men were having any of it.”  
“Talk about men with an ego,” Black Canary snarled.  
Huntress put down her crossbow.  
Batwoman sighed before looking at us. “And what were you three doing in there?” She looked over at Supergirl. “And you; you look a bit young to be going to a cabaret club.”  
“They asked me for backup in case things got bad,” Supergirl answered.  
“And yet Batwoman and I had to come in to sort it all out,” Huntress replied.  
Supergirl hung her head at this.  
“Black Canary and I needed to question Harley about something we think the Joker’s behind,” I announced, “she’s the only one who would be able to pick his brain the best.”  
“Hey, that sickness you guys have been talking about ain’t something Mistah J would do. He’s clever, but he ain’t that smart.”  
Black Canary shook her head. “But something’s telling me I have a reason to doubt you,” she said through gritted teeth.  
“Ya don’t believe me? Fine! Go get Wondy’s lasso. Then you’ll see I’m right!”  
“Wonder Woman’s ways away from here,” I replied.  
Harley gestured her open hands to Supergirl, who had picked up her head by then.  
“You want to send Supergirl to get Wonder Woman?” Batwoman questioned.  
“She can FLY!” Harley exclaimed.  
Batwoman sighed. “Alright.” She looked to Supergirl. “Get Wonder Woman for us. We’ll be in the Batcave, if you remember where that is.”  
Supergirl nodded. “I remember. I’m on it!” With that, she flew off into the night sky.  
Batwoman pulled out handcuffs. “As for you, Quinn,” she spat as she cuffed up Harley, “we have a few questions to ask you.”  
“Ya guys gotta believe me!” Harley shouted as Batwoman led her to her black and red motorcycle, “I’m tellin’ the truth! I swear!”  
“We’ll see about that,” Black Canary replied.   
Harley looked at Batwoman’s motorcycle. “Anybody ever tell ya that we got the same color scheme?”  
“Shut it, Quinn,” Batwoman replied. With that, they drove off to the Batcave.   
Huntress followed on her own black bike.  
I looked to Black Canary. “You know what to do.” We ran off to my motorcycle, which was purple, yellow, and black. I revved up as Black Canary hopped off. Shortly after, we zoomed down the streets of Gotham City. My sight was focused on the road ahead of me, not looking back for a second.


	9. Wonder Woman

I knocked Cheetah back with the side of my shield. She flew back, slamming back into a wall.  
“Look,” a child’s voice cried in the distance, “it’s Wonder Woman!”  
I glanced over to see a crowd starting to form, all varying in age. A handful of young people were recording with their smartphones.  
I faced them. “Everybody,” I announced it, “you need to leave. It’s not safe here.”  
“Watch out!” the same child’s voice cried out.  
I turned around to see Cheetah leap on me. I tumbled to the asphalt ground. My gauntlets scratched against the asphalt, making a sharp, grating sound. I gritted my teeth at that. “Suffering Sappho.”  
Cheetah snarled at me. “You know, I’ve been wondering what Amazon blood tastes like.”  
I glared at her. “Over my dead body you will.”  
Right before I could attack, Cheetah hissed in pain. She pulled away, revealing a familiar figure floating high above us.  
“Supergirl!” I shouted, “this isn’t your fight.”  
“But Cheetah was kicking your butt,” she said as she flew down and looked to me. “I figured you may need my help.”  
“Not now, Supergirl,” I said, “later. Promise.”  
Cheetah pounced at Supergirl. Instantly, her face was scratched with a single line across her cheek. The line filled with crimson blood. A snicker escaped Cheetah. “Stupid kryptonian. Don’t you know you’re vulnerable to magic?”  
Supergirl whimpered in pain.  
Cheetah sighed with a grin on her face. “I guess Kryptonian blood could make up for the lack of Wonder Woman’s.” She let out a quiet laugh.  
Swiftly, I intervened, clashing my gauntlets together. “He-YA!” The second the gauntlets made contact, a strong, concussive wave shot out at Cheetah, sending her flying into the side of a car. Instantly, Cheetah was stunned.  
“Is she down?” Supergirl asked.  
I nodded. “Indubitably.”  
Soon, the police arrived. I looked at the officers. “Prison won’t hold her,” I warned them, “I suggest some place with maximum security.”  
“Like where?” a male officer asked before coughing.  
“Belle Reve should do the trick.”  
The officer nodded before him and the police officers hauled Cheetah away.  
I turned to Supergirl. I placed my hands at my hips. “National City is pretty far from here, you know.”  
“I flew from Gotham,” Supergirl said, “we need your help, Wonder Woman.”  
Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound. I looked down at my stomach. “I guess I’ve worked up an appetite.” I smiled lightly before looking back up. “You already eat?”  
Supergirl shook her head.  
“Change into your civilian clothes and we can talk about what you need help with over dinner,” I suggested, “sound fair?”  
Supergirl nodded. “Fair.”   
I slipped out some blue kryptonite. “Here. I give it to Superman to help him heal faster.”  
“I thought it only worked to subdue Bizarro,” Supergirl said.  
“Blue kryptonite can do more than you think.” I leaned into Supergirl. “Meet me downtown in twenty.” I pulled back to watch her nod before she flew off. I couldn’t help but smile.  
“Wonder Woman!” a woman shouted.  
I turned my head to see a group of people, from civilians to reporters clamor around me. My smile remained.

The sun was nearly setting when I saw her again. Kara had part of her blonde hair pulled back. She wore black-framed glasses over her eyes. She was leaned up against a street lamp as I approached her.  
“Wasn’t expecting you to come here to Gateway City today,” I said.  
“Me neither, to be honest.”  
I looked at her healed cheek. “The scratch is gone.” I sighed. “But you know you can’t fight against Cheetah. She’s got magic on her side.”  
“I know,” Kara responded, “but that wasn’t the reason I came. I needed to talk to you about something important, but when I came, I guess you were hung up with Cheetah.”  
I knitted my eyebrows together. “What do you need?”  
Suddenly, my stomach growled.  
Kara chuckled. “Well, I guess I know what you want, Di.”  
“Worked up an appetite,” I replied, “let’s talk at dinner, alright?”  
Kara nodded.   
With that, we continued to walk down the sidewalks of downtown. After a little while, we came across a small, but slight crowded sports bar. With the TVs airing football games, the patrons would be too busy to eavesdrop. We sat down across from each other.  
“So what was it you wanted to tell me?” I asked. I folded my hand together and placed my chin over it.  
Kara sighed. “Well…”  
Suddenly, a waiter with fiery red hair appeared. His face full of freckles seemed to kind of mask the ghostly palness he had to him. “Can I take your order?” he asked. His voice sounded congested before letting out a cough.  
“Lemonade, please,” Kara said, “and some fries.”  
“And you, miss?” the waiter asked as he turned to me.  
“Coke and your garlic parmesan chicken wings, please.”  
The waiter nodded as he wrote the order. He let out another cough.  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Are you alright?”  
He nodded. “Yeah, it’s okay. A lot of the other guys have been like this, too.” With that, he took our orders and walked away.  
I let out a small sigh before I turned back to Kara. “You were saying?”  
I could hear Kara tap her foot against the floor, despite the chatter from the other tables. “Something strange has been happening. Not just in National City. Gotham, too.”  
I leaned in a bit. “What’s going on?”  
“Have you noticed something with the guys?”  
I rose an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”  
“Look around,” Kara said.  
I turned my head again to survey the other patrons. The men all seemed to have a slight paleness to their skin. I could hear a few of them coughing, some sounding more like hacking than coughing.  
“It’s been like that in National City and Gotham, too,” Kara added.  
I turned back to her. “And it’s only been happening to the men.”  
I thought this over. These symptoms, they seemed like I had seen them before, but where? “Why do you need me?”  
“We need your help with the Lasso of Truth,” Kara answered, “we believe that the Joker may be onto something revolving this new sickness and that Harley could be possibly lying about it.”  
I nodded. “I see.”  
Right then, the waiter came out with our drinks. At a second glance, I could see tiny beads of sweat on his forehead. He slightly shivered as she handed over our drinks. “I’ll be back with your food soon.” He disappeared again.  
“Is he contagious?” I asked.  
“He wasn’t coughing into our food. Plus, we have super-healing,” Kara said, “remember?”  
I shrugged and took a few sips of my soda. “Do you know where Harley is now?”  
“Batgirl, Black Canary, Batwoman, and Huntress have her in the Batcave.”  
I smirked at this. “At least she can’t sneak out. Not under their watch. Especially Barbara’s.”  
Kara shook her head. “Babs and Kate would kick her butt if she did.”  
I nodded. I looked over shortly after to see that the waiter had brought our food. He was still shivering, but the beads of sweat were gone, like he had wiped it off moments before. It was only a matter of moments before he left again. With that, we dug in.  
“So you want me to check for you all if Harley’s telling the truth?” I asked.  
“It’s the only way we’ll know the truth,” Kara replied, “I mean, how many times has the lasso ever failed you?”  
I shook my head. “None.”  
“Exactly.”

After a while, we were just about finished. The glass beside me only had a few last drops of coke in it.  
“Diana,” Kara said.  
“Yes?”  
“Have you ever...let someone down before?” Kara asked, “even if you were trying to do the right thing?”  
My eyes widened at this slightly. I remember the tears in my mother’s eyes right before I left Themyscira. She tried to hide them so well, but I could see right through her. Her straight face was ready to break into a frown. But if it wasn’t me, who else would bring Steve back to man’s world? I promised her I would come back, but after all this time, I have not been able to find Themyscira. I nodded. “I have let people down before. I’m not perfect. It happens to the best of all of us. It is also not always in our control.  
“Yeah, but you’re...you know…” Kara leaned in. “Wonder Woman.”  
“And you are, you know, Supergirl.”  
Kara slumped in her seat and shook her head. “Kal and Miss Grant got a bone to pick with her.”  
“What happened?” I asked.  
Kara sighed and hung her head. “Kal intervened when I was fighting Silver Banshee. He said I was going too far. It felt like a punch in the stomach. And when Miss Grant wanted me to report on how basically I did a lousy job at saving the day, it only made it feel worse.”  
I nodded. “I know that feeling, too.” I paused for a second. “But Kal is also a perfectionist. It wouldn’t faze me if he forgot how he became the hero he is now. He shouldn’t put that on you. You’re only seventeen.”  
Kara sighed. “It just feels like the whole world wants me to be like him. I mean, even Kal wants me to be like him!”  
“But you are not him,” I said, “you are Kara.”  
“I know.”  
“If Kal ever pulls that again, I can talk to him about it,” I offered, “sometimes, I think he needs a reminder about how he came to be the way he is now.”  
Kara gave me a weak smile. “Thank you, Diana.”  
Soon, we finished up dinner. I quickly paid the tab before we left.

The sky had an orange and peachy-color to it as a cool breeze blew past us. A few leaves of yellow and red flew past us. We were back in our superhero outfits, floating up the streets of the city.  
“You said the Batcave, correct?” I asked.  
Supergirl nodded. “Yeah.” Her eyes scanned me for a moment. “You got the lasso?”  
I showed it to her in my hand. It emitted a golden glow. “Right here.”  
Supergirl smiled a bit more. “Let’s go.”  
With that, we flew off, away from Gateway City.


	10. Supergirl

The air was cold and damp when Wonder Woman and I arrived at the Batcave. It was dim, with only a few fluorescent lights, but it was enough to see what was there. The Batcave was vast. The batmobile and a few motorcycles were parked further in the back. Gadgets were hung up. A surveillance system was right in the center, with the whole view of Gotham City.  
“Now I get why Batman is so vigilant,” I said as I looked around, “he’s got eyes everywhere.”  
“The whole Batfamily does,” Batgirl said as she walked over toward us. She looked to Wonder Woman. “You are really a sight for sore eyes, Diana.”  
“Nice to see you, too, Barbara,” Diana greeted.  
Batgirl’s bluish-green eyes looked down at the Lasso of Truth. “More so to see that lasso you have there.” She face forward and started walking. We followed.  
“Anything more from Harley, Batgirl?” I asked.  
“Besides her kicking and screaming,” Batgirl answered, “not much.”  
“Typical Harley,” Wonder Woman replied.  
“Well, what else did you expect from a former criminal?”  
After a moment, we walked up to Harley. She was in handcuffs, sitting with her legs crossed on the dingy, concrete floor. Black Canary, Batwoman, and Huntress stood beside her, with Huntress placing her crossbow up against Harley’s temple.  
Huntress smirked at Wonder Woman. “You have the so-called Lasso of Truth, huh?”  
“Indeed I do,” Wonder Woman replied. She held it in both of her hands. “I don’t fight crime without it.”  
“I ain’t a criminal!” Harley shouted.  
Huntress slammed her crossbow into Harley’s head.  
Harley’s eyes squeezed shut on impact. “Ow!”  
“Quiet, Quinn.”  
Harley looked up to me. A pout was on her face.  
“No need to jump to violence, Huntress,” I told her, “for all we know, she may not have even done anything.”  
Wonder Woman walked over to Harley with her lasso in hand. “Well, we’ll find out soon enough.”  
Harley’s eyes widened at this. “Hey, whatta ya doin’, Wondy?”  
Wonder Woman wrapped it around Harley’s wrists as tight as possible. “Making sure you tell us the truth.”  
“I ain’t tellin’ ya anything!” Harley shouted, “I wanna lawyer!”  
“You’re not getting one, Harley,” Black Canary said.  
Huntress furrowed her eyebrows, despite the mask covering her face. “How do we know this thing even works?”  
“I’ve used it many of times,” Wonder Woman answered, “I can assure you that it works.”  
“If it’s just you using intimidation on your target, it won’t work on us. We know you.”  
“I don’t rely on intimidation.”  
“Alright.” Huntress put her hands on her hips. “If you’re so confident about your lasso, why don’t you try it on one of us?”  
I looked over to Wonder Woman. “What about me?”  
“You sure?”  
“I mean, everyone knows about me. Ask simple questions about me, and I can answer. I’ll try my best to lie, too. That way, I can help show that the lasso works.”  
“Ooh! Ooh!”  
I looked over to see Harley with her eyes wide. “Can I ask the questions, SG?”  
“No, Quinn,” Batwoman answered in a sharp voice.  
“If anyone,” Black Canary said, “we should have ‘believer’ over here ask the questions.” She gestured to Huntress. “She can see the truth for herself.”  
Huntress smirked. “Alright. Let’s see how ‘truthful’ your lasso is.”  
Wonder Woman wrapped the Lasso of Truth around my wrists. It glowed to the touch.  
I looked to Huntress. “Alright, fire away.”  
She smirked. “Who are you?”  
“I’m Supergirl,” I replied instantly.  
“Where are you from?”  
“Krypton.”  
“Who is your cousin?”  
“Superman.”  
“What are your powers?”  
“Flight, super-strength, super-speed, arctic breath, super breath, heat vision, x-ray vision, telescopic vision, microscopic vision, thunderclap, invulnerability, and super-hearing.”  
Huntress’s smirked grew more prominent. “Who was the last criminal you fought?”  
I cringed at this. “Huntress, no.”  
“Who?”  
“Silver Banshee,” I answered, not even thinking.  
“Enough, Huntress,” Wonder Woman said.  
“And what happened?” Huntress questioned.  
My eyelids squeezed shut. The rope burned like kryptonite along my skin the longer I hold the thought.  
Huntress rose an eyebrow. “Well…?”  
My eyes opened up again. I glared at Huntress. “I really hate you right now.”  
“What happened, Supergirl?” Huntress yanked the lasso.  
The pain was scorching now. Something inside me wanted to scream. I’d use my heat vision on this lasso; if only it weren’t magical. “I lost.” Suddenly, a weight was lifted off of me. The burning sensation ceased, but my stomach grew uneasy. “Is that what you wanted to hear? I lost! I lost to a stupid metahuman! I’m not good enough for National City, or even Superman himself!” My eyes started to water up, making my vision blur. I felt the lasso unwrap around my wrists.  
“She was truthful,” Wonder Woman confirmed, “she told me earlier.”  
Huntress smirked. “I know. I heard all about it from Lois Lane’s report.”  
“SG loses to a meta?” Harley asked, “never thought it could be possible.”  
BAtwoman turned to Harley. “Shut it.  
Batgirl stormed over to Huntress. “Really? You really had to go there.”  
“We needed to make sure the lasso worked, right?” Huntress replied, “and from what we saw, it worked!”  
“You could’ve stayed with the basic questions.”  
“We have to dig deep in order to see if the lasso worked!”  
Batwoman shook her head at that.  
Huntress huffed. “Well, you got what you wanted, okay?” She shook her head. “My God.”  
Batwoman took the lasso and wrapped it around Harley.  
“Hey!”  
“We need answers,” Batwoman responded, “now.”  
“Yer treatin’ me like Huntress did ta SG,” Harley insisted, “I thought you guys were against that!”  
“If we aren’t, we won’t get answers out of you,” Batwoman replied, “Supergirl is different, and you know it.”  
Harley scoffed. “Fer bein’ heroes, you guys got quite some double-standards.”  
I frowned at her. “It’s just for now.”  
Harley sighed.  
“So, Harley,” Batgirl said, “what have you been doing since the music festival a couple months back?”  
Harley chuckled. “Really?”  
Huntress scowled. “Answer the damn question, Quinn!”  
“Okay, okay.” Harley sighed. “I’ve been workin’ at the Club of Hearts at nights. I…” Her cheeks grew red. “I’m a fan favorite.”  
Black Canary scoffed. “Sounded like it when we were back there.”  
“What else have you been doing?” Batgirl asked.  
“Livin’ on my own,” Harley said, “kickin’ ass, takin’ names, tryna get my Bud and Lou back, the ushe.”  
Wonder Woman furrowed her eyebrows. “Who are Bud and Lou?”  
“They’re her hyenas,” Batwoman answered.  
“Tryna get ‘em back from the people I stole ‘em from.”  
Wonder Woman’s eyes widened. “You stole them?”  
Harley rolled her eyes. “They were sketchy people, like, almost ta the levels of Mistah J.”  
“What were they planning on doing?”  
“They were gonna use ‘em fer dog-fights,” Harley said, “I couldn’t let ‘em do that.”  
“That’s great that you saved the hyenas,” I said, “but that’s not the question. Is Harley behind the widespread illness or not?”  
Harley rose an eyebrow.  
“The one that’s only been showing in men so far.”  
Harley shook her head.  
I sighed. “The one with the coughs, the pale skin, the chills, the sweating…?”  
Harley let out a laugh. It was light, yet had a maniacal pitch to it. She grinned as she laughed.  
Batwoman scowled at Harley. “This isn’t funny.”  
“Ya think I’m the one behind it?” She continued to laugh loudly. Tears began to come to her eyes. “Yer barkin’ up the  
wrong tree if ya think I’m the one spreadin’ that illness around!”  
“Did Joker do this?” Batgirl asked.  
Harley shrugged. “Hell if I know.”  
I looked over to Batgirl. A scowl appeared on her face. I frowned back. It was safe to say that she wasn’t getting the answers she was expecting.  
“When was the last time you saw the Joker?” Batgirl asked.  
“The last time I saw that crazed clown?” Harley replied.  
“Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?” Huntress chuckled at her own weak joke.  
“Two months,” Harley replied, “back at the music festival when I set ‘im up. That was the last time I saw Mistah J.”  
Batgirl’s eyes were wide. Her jaw was slightly open. “You...you didn’t?”  
Harley shook her head. “Nope.”  
I looked over at Wonder Woman. Her face was straight, with a slight frown. “She’s telling us the truth.”  
A pit formed in my stomach when I looked back at Batgirl. Her jaw had opened slightly. “She is?”  
Wonder Woman nodded.


	11. Batgirl

“You’re really not sure?” I asked.  
“Not a thing,” Harley answered.  
I shook my head. “No. That...that’s not like her.”  
Harley let out a huff as her eyes pierced through me. “Ya really thought I’d be workin’ with him ta let out a disease, B-Girl?”  
“If you want me to be honest; yes.”  
Her eyes widened, as if she were caught in headlights.  
“You have a track record.”  
“Ya eva thought that maybe, just maybe, I’m tryna ditch that shit?”  
I sighed. “I...I guess not.”  
Black Canary sighed as she untied the Lasso of Truth around Harley.   
“What was that for?” Wonder Woman asked.  
“It’s a dead end. We’re not gonna get anything out of her.”  
“Thank you!” Harley replied, grinning from ear-to-ear.  
“But we still need her,” Batwoman added.  
Harley’s jaw dropped at that. Her eyes widened. “What?!”  
“She could be of use to us trying to figure out what is going on. She knows how criminals think.”  
Wonder Woman nodded. “I agree.”  
“Nah, nah, nah.” Harley shook her head. “I ain’t havin’ any of this!” She stood up, only for Huntress to push her back down. She gritted her teeth when she landed on her kneecap. “Ow!”  
“You’re not going anywhere, Quinn!” Huntress hissed.  
Wonder Woman put her hand in front of her. “We don’t need to be hostile to her.”  
“What exactly do we plan on doing with her?” Supergirl asked, “we can’t just lock her up here for no reason. She told us the truth.”  
“She did,” Batwoman said, “but she knows how a criminal can act.”  
“And…?” I asked.  
“We don’t know for sure if Joker really let out the disease,” Batwoman replied, “I say we use her as a mole.”  
My eyes widened. “A mole?”  
“Nuh-uh,” Harley grunted, “I ain’t going back ta that maniac!”  
“You will if we tell you to,” Huntress shot back, “or it’s back to Arkham for you!”  
Harley growled. “Fine!”  
Huntress pinned Harley’s wrists together while Black Canary handcuffed her.  
Supergirl turned to me. “Hey, meet me on the roof of Wayne Enterprises in a bit.”  
I nodded. “Okay.”  
With that, Supergirl flew off.  
I watched as Black Canary and Huntress dragged Harley to a holding cell in the Batcave. With that, the former clown princess of crime was out of sight...for now.  
The sound of footsteps approached me. I turned around.  
“Barbara,” Batwoman said, as she took off her cowl and red wig.   
“Yeah, Kate?” I took off my cowl as well.  
“I didn’t mean to hunt down Harley with you,” she replied.  
“I know. If it wasn’t for that brawl—”  
“I was looking for you,” Kate said.  
My eyes widened. “You...you were?”  
“You just so happened to be at the same place Helena and I were hearing about a club brawl.”  
“Why were you looking for me?”  
“It’s Bruce,” Kate said, “he’s out of commission.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “What happened?”  
Kate exhaled heavily. “He...he’s got the mystery illness.”  
My eyes widened at this. I could feel my jaw get loose, opening my mouth slightly. “What?”  
“Bruce and I believe he may have contracted it from fighting a trio of male robbers.”  
“How long has he been sick?”  
“A couple of days now,” Kate said, “and since he can’t defend Gotham, he wants you to.”  
I was taken aback. My heart raced. “M..me?”  
Kate nodded.  
“What about you?” I asked, “you’re the one with the military experience.”  
Kate bit her lip. “Um, kind of.” She paused for a second. “Look, Bruce wants you to defend Gotham while he’s sick.”  
“Why me?”  
“Because he mentored you, and he’s seen your fight crime before. He knows how you work. He knows you can handle it now.”  
“Is he sure?” I asked, “because I haven’t been as good as I used to be since—”  
Kate put a hand up, as if to stop me from talking. “He wouldn’t have picked you if he didn’t believe your bounce-back prepared you.” She sighed. “I have to go help situate Harley Quinn. The three of us will be here planning out a way to use her as our mole to Joker.”  
I nodded. “Okay.”  
“You need us, we’ll be here.”  
“Thank you, Kate.”  
Her face was still straight. “Not a problem, Barbara.”  
With that, I left the Batcave.

“You helped lock Harley up?” Kara asked me.  
We were on the rooftop of Wayne Enterprises, one of the tallest buildings in all of Gotham City. The sound of traffic echoed throughout the city. The lights of buildings dotted the horizon. Kara was sitting on the ledge of the roof, still wearing her Supergirl outfit.  
I sat down beside her. I placed my cowl on my other side. “No. Diana, Kate, Helena, and Dinah got her squared away.”  
“That many of us had to lock her up?” Kara asked. A chuckle escaped her.  
“Well, Harley has the tendency to be unpredictable.”  
Kara nodded. “So, what was going on after I left?”  
“Kate talked to me.”  
“What did she say?”  
I sighed. “I guess Bruce wants me to defend Gotham while he’s sick.”  
Kara’s eyes widened. “Batman, the one who barely plays well with others…?”  
“Is trusting me to defend Gotham,” I replied.  
Kara blinked a couple of times. “Holy crap, Babs.”  
“It was a shock to me, too.”  
“That’s so unlike him,” Kara commented, “I thought he’d try to maintain his ego before he let anyone take his place.”  
I shook my head. “Bruce isn’t always like that. He just tries to act that way so his enemies don’t expect his allies to rush to his aid.”  
Kara smiled. “Well, it’ll be nice to have Batgirl around more.”  
“As long as I don’t have to deal with any criminals giving me any monologues,” I answered, “we’re good.”  
A chuckle escaped Kara. “You get the monologue treatment?”  
I rolled my eyes slightly. “Bane, Hugo Strange, Penguin; you name it.”  
“They do?”  
I nodded.  
Kara smiled slightly. “I know Kal gets that from Lex all the time. He claims that he’s got the power of tech by his side and that Kal is destined to lose, but he always seems to get past it.”  
I chuckled at that. “I think one of my favorites has got to be from the clown criminal himself.” I scoffed as I shook my head. “ ‘All it takes is one bad day’,” I added, mocking Joker’s raspy voice.  
“He really thought he could tear you down?” Kara asked.  
“Me and my dad. He really thought he could make my dad insane way back then.” I exhaled through my nose. “Believe me, I’m still petrified of him.”  
“But here you are,” Kara replied, “sane as can be.”  
I chuckled. “It’s not even Joker, though. I’ve gotten other monologues, too. They like to talk me down, think that I’m just a girl in a costume. Just about every time Bruce’s enemies see me, and not Bruce, they’ll say something about how they’re surprised that someone like me would come in and try to capture them, shrugging off the possibility that I can.” I laughed at that. “Imagine their surprise when I get them down for the count.”  
“I’m surprised they’d think that, though.”  
I rose an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”  
“Because from what I’ve heard,” Kara said, “Batgirl just about always win when she fights them.  
I couldn’t help but smile back at her. “Damn right I do.” I paused for a second. “What about you? With National City? It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.”  
Kara huffed. “I thought you’d get all you’d want to know about that from Huntress.”  
“I want to hear it from you,” I said, “not her.”  
Kara chuckled lightly. “Only interventions from Kal it seems like.”  
“Interventions?”  
She shrugged. “I’m ‘excessive’, according to him.”  
“How so?”  
“I actually put up a good fight against the Silver Banshee, but I still lost. Kal won.”  
“Because he took over.”  
Kara nodded. “Yeah.”  
A frown formed on my face. “I’m sorry he upstaged you like that.”  
She shook her head. “Not your fault. I should be used to it, anyway.”  
“You shouldn’t have to.”  
“I know Diana told me that Kal forgets how he started,” Kara replied, “but I don’t think that’s it.”  
“What do you think it is?” I asked.  
Kara shrugged. “The only thing I can think is that he doesn’t trust me. Or that he doesn’t believe in me.”  
“That’s not true, Kara.”  
“Then why else does Kal do this to me? Why does he stop me from doing what he does on an almost day-by-day basis? Why does he always upstage me, Babs?”  
I sighed. “To be honest, I don’t know.” A frown drew on my face. “If I knew why, I would tell you.” I paused for a second. “For now, I think the best idea is for you to talk to him about this honestly with him. Clark..Kal..he’s a reasonable person. You and I both know that.”  
Kara gave me a half-smile. “If only there was a way I could prove to him that I’m ready to be Supergirl…”  
Suddenly, a bright blue light in the shape of a ring flashed into existence near Burnside Park. Kara and I observed the ring.  
“Is...is that a—?” Kara asked.  
“A breach,” I confirmed.  
“Why would someone want to breach into Gotham?”  
“Usually, it’s the sign of a metahuman criminal.” I looked to Kara.   
“Ready for Batgirl and Supergirl to defend Gotham?” Kara asked as she stood up.  
I slipped my cowl back over my head as I got up. A smile formed on my face. “You know it.”  
Kara flew off of the rooftop and I jumped off, gliding my way down with my black and purple cape.

We arrived at the center of Burnside Park. Not thinking, I took out a Batarang as I looked at the breach. “Show yourself!”  
Supergirl balled her fists and placed them in front of her chest.  
Right as the breach blinked out, a boy with tan skin appeared. He looked to be about the same age as me. His eyes were covered with goggles that had neon blue lenses. He wore a leather jacket that was black, red, and yellow. He had dark hair that reached his shoulders. He grinned at us. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Batgirl and Supergirl.”  
My eyes widened at this. I had heard of him before, but he had never stepped into Gotham before. Vibe, a hero with the ability to create breaches and throw concussive vibrational blasts. There were rumors saying he could sense the past and present, even other dimensions, but I never heard of him using those abilities. “You’re...you’re Vibe.”  
“The one and only.” He paused for a second. “And you’re Batgirl and Supergirl. I’ve heard about you ladies a time or two.”  
“Good?” I asked. “Bad?”  
Vibe smirked lightly at me. “Quite a few good things for you, Batgirl.”  
“Thanks,” I replied, “I take my job into defending Gotham seriously.”  
Vibe turned to Supergirl. “And CatCo’s really gotta let up on you.”  
Supergirl smiled. “Thank you!”  
“What brings you to Gotham City?” I observed him. His skin was nowhere near any shade of pale. Not a bead of sweat or shiver was in sight.  
A sigh escaped Vibe. His grin was instantly replaced with a serious straight face. “A crisis is coming, Batgirl.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “What crisis?”  
“It’s almost like a plague,” Vibe answered, “maybe you’ve already seen it.”  
I thought back for a moment, remembering the pale skin of the guys I had passed by, how they sweated or shivered, how their coughs were strong. “What about you?”  
“What about me?” Vibe asked.  
“How come you’re not sick?”  
Vibe shrugged. “I honestly have no clue.” He sighed. “Look, I need your help. I can’t stop this crisis alone.”  
Supergirl chuckled. “If anything,” she said, “we need your help. A group of us have already started to track down who’s responsible for this.”  
“Who’s helping you guys out?”  
“Wonder Woman, Black Canary,” I responded, “Batwoman, Huntress, and even Harley.”  
“Wait, wait.” Vibe paused for a second. “Did you say Wonder Woman?”  
“Yeah..”  
“And Black Canary?”  
I nodded.  
Vibe was grinning now. “Oh my God, I have always wanted to meet them! Much less even work with them!”  
“Well, we need as many hands on deck as possible.”  
Supergirl giggled slightly. “I never met a superhero that was so star-struck about superheroes before.”  
I smiled lightly at that.  
“Well, what do you guys have planned right now? You know, to...you know.”  
“We’re using Harley as a mole,” I said.  
“According to Huntress,” Supergirl added.  
“A mole for what?”  
“We believe Joker may be the one behind it,” I answered. I sighed. “How do we know that we can trust you?”  
“I’m a hero like you guys, right?” A nervous smile appeared on his face.  
Supergirl turned to me. “You want me to get Wonder Woman?”  
Vibe gritted his teeth. “No, no, no! You don’t have to use the Lasso of Truth on me, honest!”  
“Well, how can we trust you?”  
“I won’t lie,” Vibe said, “and trust me, I want to get rid of this plague thing, too.”  
“I promise I won’t lie, either,” I replied. I extended my hand to him. “Deal?”  
Vibe smiled and shook my hand. “Deal.”


	12. Wonder Woman

Harley was tossed into her cell. She landed on her arm. “Oof!” It took a second before she sat back up. She quickly crawled over to the door right as Huntress had locked it. The cell door locked shut as Harley grasped onto the bars. She shook them as hard as she could. “Get me outta here! Get me out! Yer holdin’ me against my will!”  
I sighed. “Harley, it’s just for now. If you’re cooperative with us, you will not be here for much longer.”  
“I ain’t being yer dirty mole!”  
Huntress glared at her. “You are what we say you are. If you’re our bitch, you’re our bitch.”  
I frowned as I placed my hand on Huntress’s shoulder. “That’s enough.”  
Harley stuck her tongue out. She spat at us.  
Batwoman frowned. “Quit it, Quinn.”  
She crossed her arms with a glare in her eyes.  
I sighed as I left the cell door. I could still hear the metal clang of the door as Harley shook against it.  
“So what do we do now?” Black Canary asked as we left Harley’s cell.  
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Batwoman replied.  
“Whether or not it’s Joker,” I said, “we need more people on our side.”  
“Huh?” Black Canary looked to me with a raised eyebrow.  
“We need as many hands on deck as possible.”  
“What for?”  
“We don’t know whether this epidemic is as large-scale as we fear. Whether it is or isn’t, we need to have as many healthy heroes and vigilantes as possible. Just in case. Maybe Supergirl and Batgirl can help recruit as well.”  
“How do you plan on recruiting them?” Batwoman asked.  
“Batwoman has a point,” Huntress replied, “I can maybe see Supergirl and Batgirl getting recruiters because they’re kids, but with you, it’s not like they’re just gonna drop everything to join us.”  
“I understand that,” I said, “but I have connections.”  
Batwoman crossed her arms. “What kind of connections?”  
A smile drew across my face.

The sun shone down on Gotham City the next morning. The air was cool, barely holding on to what little of summer heat it originally had. I walked down the street, my Lasso of Truth and tiara hidden away. After a little bit, I came across a small theater. Along the marquee, it read: “Zatanna: the Mistress of Magic! Performing at the Monarch Theater all through October!”  
I couldn’t help but smile at this. “Found you, Zee.” With that, I walked into the theater. The foyer had a white marble staircase greeted me. It created an arch to lead to the concessions in the lobby. Windows into the actual theater were draped with red, velvet curtains. The ceiling had a gilded look to it. A magnificent chandelier hung from the center.  
“Ladies and gentlemen,” a feminine, bubbly voice called out from further off, “for my next trick, I will need a member from the audience.”  
I turned my head to the sound. I speed-walked under the staircase and through the lobby. I turned left into the theater. People sat in the audience, facing the stage. There was a red backdrop with the word “Zatanna” written in gold cursive. Under it, it read, “Mistress of Magic!” also in gold cursive. Golden stars dotted the backdrop. On stage, a young woman with raven-colored hair and olive skin stood there. She wore a blacktail tuxedo with a white vest underneath. Her legs were covered with fishnet stockings, with black heels at her feet. She wore white gloves, with a magician’s wand in one hand. A pale yellow corset wrapped around her torso. A white necktie hugged her neck. On her head, she wore a black top hat. She looked into the audience before picking out a man who seemed to be in her early 50’s. His skin was almost as pale as paper.  
I crept over and sat in an empty seat toward the front.  
“For this act,” Zatanna announced, “I will make our volunteer fly.”  
I looked over to see people in the audience’s eyes widened. A chorus of “ooh”s rang out throughout the spacious venue.  
A few coughs echoed as well. A frowned formed on my face at this.  
“Now sir,” Zatanna replied, “I need you to promise me something?”  
“Yes?” the man asked before letting out a raspy cough.  
“I need you to be as calm as possible. If you freak out in even the slightest, the whole trick can messed up. Can you promise me that?”  
The man nodded.  
Zatanna flashed a smile. “Brilliant!” She moved back a bit. “Now stay still.” She cleared her throat as she pointed her wand at the woman. “Etativel!”  
The man started to float off the ground. Awe flashed across her eyes. The audience’s gaze was glued to the stage. I politely clapped.  
Zatanna looked over to me and smirked. “One second,” she mouthed to me. She turned back to the man. She ran her hand under the man’s shoes and around his arms. “See? No wires or anything.”  
The audience rose to their feet and began to applaud.  
Zatanna lightly chuckled while smiling. “Thank you, thank you! It is an audience like you all that remind me how much joy magic can give people.” She pointed her wand at the man again. “Tel nwod.”  
The man was lowered gently back down to the stage. He turned to Zatanna and grinned widely at her. “That was amazing!” the man said as he walked back into the audience.  
Zatanna smiled. “That’s the power of magic for you.” She looked back at me for a moment before looking back into the audience. “Alright, everyone. I’m going to call for a ten minute intermission in order to prepare for the second half of my performance. So, hang tight.” She walked off backstage and I followed.

“That was a good show you put out there, Zee,” I said as we walked out of the backstage.  
“Thank you,” Zatanna said, “but I didn’t know you would be coming.”  
“Is that a bad thing?”  
Zatanna shook her head. “Not at all, Diana. I just thought you were in Gateway City.”  
“If I was, it would mean there wasn’t any trouble.”  
Zatanna knitted her eyebrows together. A frown drew across her face. “What’s wrong?”  
“How have the guys from Justice League Dark holding up?” I asked.  
“Not sure,” Zatanna answered.  
“You don’t know?”  
“The last time I saw any of them was a couple months back. Even then, it was just me saying goodbye to John right as he left for London.”  
“Constantine?”  
“Who else?” Zatanna responded.  
“Maybe you know of it already,” I said, “but there’s been a suspicious illness going around.”  
“I’ve heard of it,” Zatanna said, “that’s the one that’s affecting men, right?”  
I gave her a nod. “”We suspect Joker’s behind it.”  
Zatanna rose an eyebrow. “That clown?” She smirked. “I didn’t know he had the brains to do it.”  
“Well, we’re not sure,” I replied, “but the girls and I have our reasons on why he could be behind it.”  
“The Amazons?” Zatanna asked.  
I shook my head. “Not this time around.”  
“Who?”  
“Kara, Barbara, Kate, and Helena.”  
Zatanna smirked. “Haven’t seen them in a while.”  
“We also have Harley with us.”  
Her eyes widened. “How’d you guys get her?”  
I let out a sigh. “It’s...it’s an interesting story.”  
“Well, you need me,” Zatanna replied.  
“Desperately.”  
She gave me a nod. “Well, you all just say the word, and I’ll be wherever you guys need me to be. I can’t leave you all behind.”  
Suddenly, a man appeared in the backstage. He was scrawny and short. His skin, like many of the other men in the theater, was pale. “Zatanna, you got two minutes before the intermission’s over.”  
Zatanna smiled at him. “Thank you, Sam.”  
With that, Sam disappeared.  
I grinned at Zatanna. “Break a leg out there, Zee.”  
Zatanna smirked. “They don’t call me the ‘Mistress of Magic’ for nothing.” With that, she left the backstage.


	13. Supergirl

I sat in front of a plate of steak and mashed potatoes with green beans on the side. I looked over to see a woman with dirty blonde hair and a man with dark hair sitting on the sides of the table. Their skin was a peachy color, the man’s was slightly paler than the woman’s.  
“So how was school today, Kara?” the man asked as he scooped up a bit of mashed potatoes.  
I sighed. “It’s fine, Jeremiah. Nothing new or anything. The stuff at school is too easy.”  
“How so?” Jeremian asked before letting out a rough cough.  
“The math and science is so outdated from the stuff back on Krypton,” I answered, “the algebra they teach us is almost rudimentary.”  
“Well, Krypton was advanced compared to Earth, Kara,” the woman said.  
Another sigh escaped me. “I know, Eliza.”  
“Have you considered enrolling for AP classes for next year?”  
I shrugged. “Maybe.” I paused for a second. “But with everything going on, I already feel run-down. I mean, even Kal doesn’t seem to have faith in me.”  
Jeremiah shook his head. “You know how Clark is. He hasn’t given up on you.”  
Eliza’s silvery-blue eyes looked up at me. Her eyebrows furrowed. “What’s going on?”  
“There’s been an epidemic going around lately,” I explained, “it’s been impacting mainly guys. The League and I are trying to get to the bottom of it.”  
“An epidemic?” Jeremiah asked before letting out another cough.  
I nodded.  
“You sure it wasn’t just something that was naturally-created?”  
“It doesn’t seem like it.”  
Jeremiah turned to Eliza. “Looks like I know what I’m sick with, honey.”  
She sighed. “You need to see the doctor about it. That chest cold’s been clinging onto you for far too long.”  
I picked at my green beans.  
“First thing tomorrow,” Eliza added, “I’m being serious.”  
“I know, you are, Eliza,” Jereiah said. He let out yet another hard cough.

Once dinner ended, I went into my room. It was small, but roomy. My bed was pushed up against the wall, with a desk on the other side. A window was right beside my bed. My phone was face up on my bed. I went over to turn it on. I switched over to a second social media account, my Supergirl account. My profile was empty, but with way too many followers. I tapped into the “direct messages” of my Supergirl account.   
“Lee,” I texted to him, “it’s me. Meet me at the rooftop of City Hall?”  
Lee quickly texted back. “Yeah. I’ll be there in ten.”  
I smiled at the screen. “Sweet,” I texted back. With that, I put my phone back on my bed. I opened the window and flew out.

The night air was crisp when I arrived at the roof of City Hall. The building was a little too short to be a skyscraper, but I could still see the lights of the city and traffic. A sigh escaped me. Suddenly, I could hear the footsteps from inside the building below me. A heartbeat, too. I turned around as the door to the roof opened.  
Lee panted lightly. “How the hell do you get here so fast?”  
I chuckled lightly before I floated for a second.  
They shook their head. “Unfair.” A small smile grew on his face. “Okay, what can’t you do?”  
“Still figuring it out myself.” I sighed as I came back down. “I need to talk to you. I figured that you could confide in me, I can confide in you, too.”  
Lee walked closer to me. “What’s up?”  
“There has been an epidemic,” I explained, “it’s been spreading like wildfire.”  
“Yeah, I heard,” Lee replied.  
“The problem we’ve noticed that it’s affecting only males.”  
“We?”  
“I’ve been working on this case with other heroes,” I answered, “Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Batwoman, just to name a few. And there’s only more to join.”  
“Wouldn’t doctors and researchers be able to like, get it straightened out?”  
“We believe this is one of the Joker’s schemes.”  
Lee’s eyes widened. “Oh.”  
“It’s all in the symptoms.” I sighed. “But Harley told us the truth that she hasn’t worked with the Joker, so we don’t know for sure if it is or not.”  
“So what now?”  
“That’s why I came to you,” I said, “we don’t know. I know you wouldn’t have the answers, either, but I wanted to let you know what was going on. I feel that it’d be unfair if I left you in the dark.”  
“Thank you, Supergirl,” Lee replied. He sighed. “Will you leave National City to solve the problem?”  
I shrugged slightly. “I don’t know yet. There’s always a possibility.”  
Suddenly, a loud, metallic sound echoed, like something had crashed. My eyes widened at that.  
“You okay, Supergirl?” Lee asked.  
I nodded. “Yeah.” I floated off of the roof. “I have to go. There’s trouble brewing downtown.”  
“Stay safe.”  
I smiled lightly back at them. “I will.” With that, I flew off.

I flew over to downtown National City. My eyes widened. “Oh..crap.”  
A fifty-foot tall woman with light auburn hair rampaged through the streets. Her yellowish-orange, fitted crop top revealed that her abs clearly ripped. She growled as her gray eyes landed on me. “Where’s Wonder Woman?”  
“Not here, Giganta,” I shot back.  
She stomped over to me, almost running, crushing the road and sidewalk under her enormous feet. “I guess I can work with a Kryptonian.” She charged at me now.  
I swung my fist at her, sending her flying back. “You and I both know you won’t win.”  
Giganta growled as she stood back up.  
“You still wouldn’t win even if it was Wonder Woman.”  
She gritted her teeth as she charged at me.  
I flew up, missing her grasp. I watched as she crashed into a building. “You want to terrorize National City, for what? Notoriety? Revenge, maybe?”  
“You people think you’re oh-so-perfect here,” Giganta barked, “and look down at the people who aren’t that. At the top are Wonder Woman...and in a sense, you.” She swiped me with her hand, slamming me down to the asphalt of the street.  
I stumbled back to my feet. I glared at her, releasing my heat-vision onto her chest. It burned her. I could hear her pained screech.  
Giganta glared at me as she swooped her palm over me, sending me into yet another building. My head throbbed. I could feel the wind knocked out of me. I was able to send out a concussive wave through my thunderclap, but it only knocked Giganta back so far. She wouldn’t have to run too far to get back to me. She threw me around, and around, and around. An uppercut from under the chin. A hook from the side of my torso. By the time she stopped to catch her breath, I could feel bruises swelling up around my face and chest.   
Suddenly, there was a neon green light. I looked up to see a streak of that light flying over us. My eyes widened at the sight. Jessica Cruz: the female Green Lantern of Earth.  
Jessica flew down next to me. She was in a bright green and black jumpsuit with the Green Lantern Corps symbol over her heart. Her hazel eyes looked over at me, with one of her eyes having the Green Lantern Corps symbol around it. The glow lit up her tan face. “I heard you needed help, Supergirl.”   
I nodded. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”  
Giganta gritted her teeth when she saw it. “You too?” She growled as she charged for us.  
Right as Giganta was about to swat at us, Green Lantern pointed her Green Lantern Corps ring at her and formed a green forcefield around us.  
Giganta ricocheted off of the forcefield.  
Quickly, Green Lantern and I flew over toward Giganta.  
“How are the other Green Lanterns?” I asked. “Hal? John?”  
“Out of commission for the moment,” she replied ash she sent a bright green blast at Giganta.  
“Out of commission?” I repeated as I punched Giganta in the cheek, knocking her back slightly.  
“They’re sick with this thing,” Green Lantern explained as she conjured a green, hologram-like missile at Giganta, “no one in the Green Lantern Corps knows what’s going on with them.”  
“Not a clue?” I asked as I burned Giganta’s chest with my heat-vision.  
Green Lantern shook her head as she conjured a hologram-like mallet and swinging it at Giganta via her ring. “The only clue we have is that it seems to get worse every day.”  
My eyes widened at this. With that, I sent out a thunderclap at Giganta. She was flung back and into one of the buildings she had thrown me into earlier. Green, hologram-like chains formed around her.  
“Hit her with your best shot, Supergirl!” Green Lantern shouted as she kept her ring aimed at Giganta.  
I looked at Giganta directly in the eye as she tried to squirm her way out of the chains. I let out a giant breath that instantly surrounded Giganta in ice. “Try getting out now,” I shot back.  
Soon, Giganta started to shrink back down into her normal height. The ice still retained her from escaping.  
I turned to Green Lantern. “Thank you.”  
She smiled. “Heroes help other heroes after all.”  
“Speaking of help,” I said, “meet me in National City park in five.”  
“Civilian?” Green Lantern asked.  
I nodded. With that, we flew off.

The only light in the park was from the streetlights. The space was empty, letting the cool air blow without an interruption.  
I sat on a bench, with a warm jacket and my glasses covering my eyes. I looked over to see Jessica walking toward me in a dark green hoodie and jeans.  
“Long time, no see, Kara.”  
I smiled. “Thank Rao you came. I don’t know if I could’ve taken her on for much longer.”  
“What were you doing here?”  
Jessica sat down beside me, leaning into the back of the bench. “In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight.” She chuckled. “I thought you knew the oath, too, Kara.”  
I couldn’t help but chuckle back. “But why National City specifically? There’s trouble always happening somewhere.”  
“Never got to travel here before.”  
“You’ve been to places like Metropolis, Gotham, and even Oa, but not once have you ever been--?”  
“To National City,” Jessica chuckled, “I know.”  
I sighed. “Look, I need your help.”  
Jessica sat up. Her brunette hair hung by the corners of her hazel eyes.  
“You and I both know that something is very wrong right now. I mean, you even said that some of the Green Lanterns have taken a hit.”  
Her eyes widened slightly. “The mysterious illness.”  
I nodded. “Yeah.” I paused for a second as I watched Jessica take it in. “We believe the Joker is behind all of it.”  
She knitted her eyebrows together. “We?”  
“A few of the other girls,” I answered, “Babs, Diana, Dinah, Kate, Huntress, possibly Zee. Hell, we even have Vibe on our side.”  
“Vibe?” Jessica asked, “isn’t Vibe--?”  
“A guy?” I replied, “yeah, but he isn’t infected.”  
“Yet, Kara. You don’t know how long you can keep him that way, especially at the rate of infection.”  
My eyes widened at this. I sighed and slightly hung my head. “I know.” After a moment, I raised my head. “But we need all hands on deck. Including you.”  
“Who will protect the cities while we find the Joker?”  
“We will still guard our own cities,” I answered, “but with this as well.”  
Jessica smiled lightly. “Like a female Justice League, almost...Justice League Femme.”  
I smiled lightly back. “I guess so.”  
“That being said, you will need to recruit more people, considering how large-scale this problem with this is.”  
“Who do you have in mind?” I leaned in a bit.  
“There are two people that come to mind,” Jessica said, “first off, Jesse Chambers.”  
“Jesse Quick,” I murmured.  
“She’s a powerful speedster, something I think would be good to have on our side. Last I heard she was studying at Gotham University.”  
“Like Babs.”  
“The second one I have in mind is Courtney Whitmore, or Stargirl.”  
“Stargirl?” I asked, “ but isn’t she kinda young?”  
“Aren’t you kinda young, Kara?”  
“Yeah, but, I’m a couple years older,” I said, “I’m seventeen, she’s like, fifteen. Plus, Kal’s been watching me.”  
“And yet he put you down.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “You knew?”  
“Everyone knew,” Jessica replied, “and everyone knew he was being a bit too harsh on you, too.” She paused for a second. “Look, for as young as Courtney is, she’s got quite the power arsenal, with that staff and converter belt of hers.”  
I shrugged. “I guess.”  
“The only problem is that I don’t know where we’d find her,” Jessica added, “my best guess would be to check the JLA’s database.”  
“You think Babs could help with that?” I asked.  
“She’s a smart girl. I know she can.”  
I smiled as I stood up. “Thank you for coming here, Jessica. You’ve really helped us a lot. That, and from saving me from getting the crap kicked out of my from Giganta.”  
She stood up from the bench as well. “All in a day’s work.” She looked to me. “Kara, if you or the others ever need me, you can always contact me. I know you guys will need as much firepower as possible.”  
“Thank you.”  
Jessica smiled at me. “See you around, Supergirl.”  
I smiled back at her. “See you around, too, Green Lantern.”  
With that, we left the park in opposite directions.


	14. Batgirl

The door to the Batcave opened, revealing the dimly-lit arsenal Bruce kept here. The air was still damp and cold. Vibe stood by my side as we entered.  
“So this is the place?” he asked.  
I nodded as I led him in. “This is it.”  
“Wow,” Vibe replied under his breath. He looked around, as if he was taking in the view. “And for the longest time, I always heard it was a myth.”  
I shook my head. “It’s real alright.”  
“How long has he had this place?” Vibe asked. His goggles were still surveying the area. An excited smile graced his face.  
“As long as he’s been Batman,” I answered.  
“I mean, like, how did he manage to get this place to the way it is now?” Vibe added.  
“He’s Batman, Vibe,” I replied, “whatever he wants, he’ll always find a way to get.”  
He nodded his head, the same smile on his face. “That’s insane.”  
I shrugged. “I guess you could say that.”  
I looked over to see Batwoman over at the control center. She turned her head and looked at us. When her eyes landed on Vibe, she shot up. “The hell is this guy doing in here, Batgirl?” She pulled out a black and red Batarang from her red utility belt. “The Batcave is for personnel only!”  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Vibe put up his hands. “I come in peace.” He paused for a second to get a better look at her. His jaw dropped. “Oh my God, are you Batwoman?”  
Batwoman glared at me. “You seriously brought a cosplayer in because you thought he was cute?”  
I rose an eyebrow and shook my head. “No. Why the hell would I do that?”  
“We both know you have a history of falling for boys in superhero costumes.”  
I rolled my eyes as I sighed. She really had to dig at me for the time I dated Dick Grayson, the first Robin. “Batwoman, this is not like that.” I turned to Vibe. “This is Vibe. He’s a superhero like us, and he’s on our side.”  
Batwoman smirked. “A likely story.”  
“You seriously never heard of Vibe?” Vibe asked.  
“Oh, I have,” Batwoman replied, “but I can’t take my chances.” Her eyes carefully examined Vibe. “Especially if he’s not sick by now.”  
Vibe shrugged. “Luck, maybe?”  
“Oh, cut the shit,” Batwoman shot back.  
My eyes widened. “Do you think he’s a suspect?”  
“Most of the men are sick by now. Only the shut-ins wouldn’t be sick unless he was behind it all.”  
“Besides, I thought we pinned it on Joker.”  
“No one is cut out except for the sick.”  
“Then for all you know a female could’ve easily done it!” I shot back.  
Vibe chuckled a bit. “I’ll admit, I have some brains, but I’m not smart enough to create an illness out of thin air. My powers wouldn’t even allow me to do it.”  
Batwoman rose an eyebrow, but it was a little harder to see because of her mask. “What are your powers, Vibe?”  
“Oh, uh,” Vibe muttered, “okay.” He cleared his throat. He pointed his palm down at the floor. A light blue breach formed below his feet and fell through. He popped up behind Batwoman from a breach.  
Batwoman turned around, her eyes slightly wide. Her face was still straight. “So you can teleport?”  
He shook his head. “Not just teleport.” Vibe put up his hand to the ceiling. Suddenly, a blue vibe blast shot out of his palm. It bounced around the front of the Batcave, ricocheting off the lights before striking the arsenal of some of the gadgets. He gritted his teeth at that as he sucked in his breath. “Did not factor the ricochet ability.”  
Batwoman sighed and shook her head.  
“I’m sorry, Batwoman,” Vibe replied, “I didn’t mean to at all.”  
“At least you aren’t who we’re looking for.” She went back to the control center. “You can stay.”  
A wide grin appeared on Vibe’s face. “Really?”  
“Just don’t blast at any more of the gadgets.”  
Vibe bounced lightly, from the balls of his feet.  
As I watched this, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. “Anyways,” I said, “I think we should fill Vibe in, Batwoman.”  
Vibe’s bouncing stopped, as if trying to restrain himself. “Oh, yeah.” He paused for a second. “Do we have any possible leads?”  
“The only real lead we have is Joker,” Batwoman answered, “to be honest, any other culprits would be unimaginable, considering the symptoms.”  
“But why would the Joker release a disease to make people look in his image? What’s the point?”  
For a second, the moment played all over again; the gunshot ringing within the apartment, the blood oozing out of my abdomen, his crooked smile on that bleached face of his. My heart raced as I saw this. “Because he’s the Joker!” I replied instantly. I panted as I snapped back into the Batcave. Joker was nowhere in sight.  
“A bit loud there,” Batwoman replied.  
Vibe knitted his eyebrows together above his goggles. “You okay, Batgirl?”  
I nodded. “Ye..yeah. Just a bad thought.” I sighed. “Continue.”  
“Well, Vibe, we don’t know,” Batwoman replied, “what we do know is that this thing is spreading like wildfire, and we need to figure out who did it. But for right now, we need to question Joker.”  
“And how are we gonna do that?” Vibe asked.  
I turned to Vibe. “Follow me.” With that, we walked past Batwoman in the center of the Batcave.

After a brief couple of moments, we arrived at Harley’s cell. She was sitting on her bed, looking up at the cement ceiling. She twirled the pink end of her hair with her finger.  
“You’re kidding,” Vibe said, “you guys got a hold of Harley Quinn?”  
I nodded.  
“How?”  
“You could say it was me and Black Canary’s luck,” I answered, “with a little help from Supergirl.”  
Harley turned her head to look at us. Her eyes widened as she turned herself over and got up. She walked over toward the bars of her cell. “Who’s this fine fella ya got fer me, B-Girl?”  
Vibe’s mouth opened slightly. “Uhh…” He gave her a small wave. “Hi?”  
“This is Vibe,” I said.  
Harley waved back at Vibe with a wide grin on her face. “Hiya, Vibe Boy.” A small giggle escaped her. “You with someone?”  
“Uh…” Vibe replied, “...no…?”  
She smiled at that. “Even betta!”  
I sighed. “Harley, he is not your new boy-toy. Vibe’s here to help us figure out who spread the illness.”  
She rolled her eyes as she held onto the bars. She scoffed. “Boring!” She looked back at me. “Ya just like B-Man, ‘imself: all business and no fun.”  
I chuckled at that. “You really think I’m like Batman?” Another laugh escaped me. “Trust me, you should be happy I’m not Batman.  
Harley turned back to Vibe. “Don’t mind, B-Girl. I know how to have a good time.”  
“I...um...uh…” Vibe stammered.  
“Oh, c’mon.” Her smile only grew wider now. “Don’tcha wanna rev up a Harley, an’ take ‘er out fer a spin?”  
“Okay Harley,” I said, “you’ve crossed a line.”  
Suddenly, there was a woosh. I turned my head to see Supergirl. “What’s up?”  
“I need info on Stargirl,” she answered.  
“Stargirl?” I asked.  
“Stargirl?” Harley asked. She started to laugh. “Seriously? She’s as harmless as a firework!”  
“Well, we also need firepower, too,” Supergirl shot back.  
I walked over to her. “Why do we need to contact Stargirl?” A sigh left my lips. “Courtney’s still young,” I whispered, “and a bit inexperienced.”  
“Green Lantern told me we’ll need her.”  
“Jessica?”  
Supergirl nodded. “You think you can get into the JLA’s database for me?”  
I nodded. “We can try.” With that, the three of us left the cell.  
“See ya around, Vibe Boy!” Harley called out.  
Vibe groaned.  
“Yeah,” Supergirl replied, “I know.”

We came back to the control center. I led us to one of the computers that wasn’t being used by Batwoman. Within a few minutes, I was able to crack into Bruce/Batman’s data and track down the JLA database.  
“Found it.”  
Supergirl and Vibe came over and examined the screen.

Name: Courtney Whitmore  
Sex: Female  
Age: Fifteen  
Race: Caucasian  
Abilities: staff that shoots energy rays and allows user to fly, cosmic-converter belt that gives off enhanced agility, strength, stamina, speed, and durability

Supergirl shook her head. “Nothing about where I can find her.”  
I scrolled down a bit more. “Wait...I think I found it.”

Last Known Location: Blue Valley, Nebraska

I turned to around. “I guess you know where to…” Before I could even finish, she was gone. I sighed and shook my head.  
“So, you’re the new kid Batwoman told me about.”  
I turned my head to see Huntress at the entrance. She had her crossbow in her hand, but it was pointed at the ground.  
“Oh my God,” Vibe replied, his voice getting a tiny bit higher-pitched, “you’re Huntress!”  
She scoffed. “I know who I am, dipshit.”  
The smile instantly faded from Vibe’s face.  
“What do you want?” I asked.  
“I came over to meet Vibe, of course,” Huntress said, “plus, I heard about these superpowers he has. I want to see if it’s true.”  
“Wouldn’t Batwoman tell you if they were real or not?”  
“Funny, Batgirl. But I have to see it to believe it.” She aimed the crossbow at his chest. “Breach this.”  
My eyes widened. “Huntress, no!”  
With that, she shot the arrow. A smirk stretched across her face.  
Vibe put up his hand. A breach emitted from his palm right as the arrow flew at him.  
I watched carefully as the arrow passed through the breach.  
Suddenly, there was a blue glow coming from above. I looked up to see a breach forming between Huntress and I. Once it opened, the arrow shot down to the floor, the tip breaking off on impact.  
I looked back up to see Huntress’s dark brown eyes widen. Her jaw had dropped.  
Vibe looked right at Huntress through the goggles. “Is that what you wanted to see?”  
Huntress closed her mouth and looked back at him. “I see. I guess she’s right about you.”  
“And what was that?” I asked.  
Huntress turned around, as if to leave. “That he’s useful.” With that, she left the area.  
Vibe looked to me. “Is she always like that?”  
“She pulled a few things on Supergirl a few days ago,” I replied, “a lot of us aren’t happy about it.”  
“That, and if she’s so stubborn to believe.”  
“We had to use the Lasso of Truth on Supergirl before we could test it on Harley just to persuade Huntress.”  
Vibe chuckled. “Damn.”  
I nodded.  
He turned to me. “You know, I was always into superheroes.”  
I looked back at him. “Really?”  
Another chuckle escaped him. “Yeah, like way before I became Vibe.”  
I smirked. “Was it like a fetish or something?” I laughed at this.  
Vibe rose an eyebrow, but had a slight smile on his face. “Don’t go all Harley on me.”  
“When you say you’re ‘into it.”  
He shook his head. “No, I mean, like I was interested in them. I’ve always been fascinated by them. They could do the impossible, things I never thought I could do.”  
I smiled. “Who inspired you once you got your powers?”  
“All of you guys, really. If you mean which one was my favorite was, it has and probably always will be, the Flash.”  
I smiled. “The so-called ‘fastest man alive’.”  
“Hey, can you run so fast that you can phase through buildings or run on water?  
I sighed. “Okay, okay. He wins in that department.”  
His smile started to fade lightly. “But...he’s been gone lately.”  
“Gone?”  
“Well, he hasn’t appeared in Central City from what I’ve heard.” He paused for a second. A prominent frown emerged on his face. “You don’t think he’s sick, do you?”  
I let the moment linger for a second. “I don’t know, Vibe. I don’t.”  
He looked down for a moment before looking back at me. “I can trust you, right?”  
I nodded. “You can trust all of us here. Why do you--?”  
He sighed as he took off his goggles, revealing his brown eyes. Vibe looked over at me. “If we’re going to be working together, I feel that we should be able to trust each other in our secret identities, you know? Besides, you don’t have to always call me ‘Vibe’. When I’m not wearing the goggles, my name is Francisco Ramon, but you can call me Cisco.”  
I smiled lightly. “Nice to officially meet the man under the goggles, Cisco.” I stuck out my hand and shook his hand.  
“If it’s okay, can I ask you yours?”  
I rose an eyebrow. “Huh?”  
“Because, I mean, if we’re gonna be working together,” he stuttered, “we should...you know…?”  
“Know each other’s secret identities?”  
Cisco shrugged. “I’m still trying to get a hold of the superhero thing. I observed the superhero life so much as a civilian, I don’t even know how to actually live that life.”  
I nodded. “I understand that feeling.” I paused. “That being said, I’m not telling you my identity. At least, not right now.” Suddenly, it hit me. “Go patrolling a few times with me, and once I know you better, I’ll tell you, deal?”  
Cisco nodded. “Deal.”


	15. Wonder Woman

Black Canary and I stood by the entrance as Zatanna floated over. She secured her top hat on her head. She smirked at me. “So this is the place?”  
“Where else would the Batcave be?” Black Canary asked.  
Zatanna nodded at that before landing back on the ground. “Looks about right, considering the dankness of the place. Bruce really wanted to go for that cave aspect, huh?”  
I shrugged slightly. “I suppose.”  
Soon, the door opened up. I led Zatanna and Black Canary in.  
She scrunched up her nose. “Really? This is what Bruce ends up doing with the Batcave?”  
“You say that like something’s wrong.”  
“For him being Bruce Wayne, you’d think this design was too simplistic for him.”  
Suddenly, there was a loud gasp. I turned to see Batgirl at the control center with who looked like a boy with goggles over his eyes and shaggy hair. He had a wide grin on his face. His body was bouncing by the balls of his feet. “Oh my God!” he squealed, “you’re her!” The boy ran over to me. He looked to be about Batgirl’s age, maybe a year older at most.  
“If I’m being honest,” I said, “I was not expecting another person to join us.”  
Zatanna rose an eyebrow. “Or a guy for that matter.”  
The boy looked down at my lasso. “Oh my God! Is that your Lasso of Truth.”  
I couldn’t help but feel a smile form on my face. “Yes it is.”  
He looked back up at me. “And your tiara!”  
“Yes,” I replied, “that’s my tiara.”  
“Can you actually throw it like a boomerang?”  
A chuckle escaped from me. “I haven’t dealt with many fanboys before. They always want to see Superman or Batman. Usually, I get little girls.” Another chuckle escaped me. “I guess I could use the change, though.”  
The boy turned to Zatanna. “And is it true?  
She knitted her eyebrows together. “Is what true?”  
“That your spells are said backwards?”  
Her deep blue eyes widened. “Oh, uh, I mean, yeah.”  
“Wow!” He smiled at this. “You have literally any spell at your disposal.”  
Zatanna nodded slowly. “I do..”  
“You’re probably more powerful than Constantine!”  
Her eyes lit up at that. “I like this guy already.” A smile appeared on her face. “Nice job to whoever got ahold of him.”  
The boy turned to Black Canary. “And you’re...you’re the Black Canary!”  
She smirked. “The one and only.”  
His jaw dropped before he covered his mouth. He erupted into laughter. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!”  
Black Canary snickered. “Wait ‘til I tell Ollie about this one.”  
Vibe uncovered his mouth. “You fight crime and you’re a part of that Ashes on Sunday band! You are, like, so talented!”  
She sighed. “Okay, you can calm down, fanboy.”  
He clasped his hands together and looked Black Canary in the eyes. “I...love you.”  
Her eyes widened. She blinked and shook her head. “Never heard that one from a fan before.”  
A blush ran over the boy’s face. “I mean, I love how you kick the bad guys’ asses and, that dope ‘canary cry’, and like, you sticking it to the man, and...er, yeah.”  
Black Canary chuckled through her smirk. “Well, somebody’s been watching me very closely.”  
The boy’s eyebrows rose up above his goggles. “What? No, I...it’s not like I’m stalking you or anything. I...it’s just…I know a lot about the Justice--”  
Black Canary laughed and nudged him lightly. “I’m just kidding.”  
Vibe smiled a bit. “Oh.” He laughed weakly.  
Batgirl walked over to us. “Wonder Woman, Zatanna, Black Canary,” she said, “this is Vibe.”  
I smiled at him. “I assume you’ll be helping us out.”  
Vibe straightened himself back. He cleared his throat. “Oh, yeah. I am. Supergirl and Batgirl recruited me.”  
Batgirl shrugged. “Sort of. More like we just happened to find each other.”  
“Well, if what Wonder Woman said is correct,” Black Canary said, “we’ll need as many people we can get.” She looked Vibe dead in the eye. “You included.”  
Vibe gasped, his jaw wide open. His eyebrows shot up. “Really?!”  
I nodded. “We’ll need more than just Harley as a mole into Joker. Though, this is not at all concrete.”  
“Tsk.”  
I looked over to see Huntress and Batwoman on the other side of the Batcave.  
“You’re really gonna deny it, huh?” Huntress replied, “you got a better idea, Wonder Woman? Use your Amazonian battle tactics on the Clown Prince of Crime? Strangle him with the Lasso of Truth, maybe?”  
I glared at her. “I do not use my lasso and strength out of ruthlessness.”  
“Oh my God,” Vibe murmured with energy in his voice, “that was such a Wonder Woman thing to say.”  
Huntress rolled her eyes under her mask as she turned her head to Vibe. “No shit, Sherlock.”  
“But we are not putting Harley back in that situation,” I argued.  
“And how else do you think we should get the information we need from Joker to stop this?”  
“We could always turn to interrogation,” Batwoman replied.  
Vibe turned to me. “Yeah, with the Lasso of Truth, it could work!”  
Huntress rolled her eyes. “Then he’ll just circumvent the answer!”  
“The lasso burns if one in its ring does not tell the truth,” I explained.  
“That fucker likes pain!” She scoffed for a second. “I mean, who else throws themselves into a vat of chemicals just for the fun of it?” She rose her eyebrows above her mask. “Hmm?”  
I sighed.  
“Hell, Harley’s just like him!”  
My eyes widened. “You and I both know she’s a different person since she left him.”  
Huntress stepped closer toward us. “Is she, Wonder Woman?” she spat, “is she really?”  
Batwoman sighed. “Okay. This is arguing is pointless.”  
I turned to her. “Thank you.”  
Huntress smirked. “Yeah...Batwoman’s got a point. Why don’t we have a vote?”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Right now?”  
“When else, Amazon?”  
“But we won’t have a full consensus,” I explained, “one of us is missing.”  
“Who thinks we should use Harley as a mole?” Huntress called out.  
Hands went up. Batwoman. Black Canary. Huntress. Zatanna, even.  
I turned to her.  
A sigh escaped her. “Hey, I know you talked to Harley earlier, but the only way we can really scope out Joker, would be through using a mole. Joker wouldn’t say a thing to us.”  
“Or, he’d say it in some cryptic way,” Black Canary added.  
“Plus, it’d be the only way to truly trust Harley.” Zatanna looked back toward the cell. “No offense to her.”  
“Okay,” Huntress said, “and who thinks Harley should not be used as a mole?”  
My hand shot up in the air. I looked to see Batgirl’s hand up, as well as Vibe’s.  
I shook my head. “Huntress, this is unfair. We need a full consensus.”  
She laughed lightly. “My idea won, fair-and-square.” She smirked at me. “Four beats three. Guess we’re going my way, Amazon.”  
A strong frown formed on my face.  
Huntress turned to the others. “So…” she announced, “what’s our plan?”


	16. Supergirl

The sun shone down as I flew over Blue Valley. The town was so small from what I could make out from all the way up here. Small and rural. These flatlands reminded me of the times I visited Martha and Jonathan back in Smallville for the holidays. I remember how we’d meet up at the Kent farm. Kal and Lois would be there. They’d tell stories about Kal fighting some enemy in Metropolis, whether it was Lex, Metallo, or even Bizarro. Out of all of the rogues Kal fought, there is one I will never forget.

We sat down at the dining room table at the Kent home, with Jonathan and Martha at one end and Kal, Lois, and I at the other. Snow was gently falling outside of the home. They had put up a tree not too far away from the dining room with beautiful ornaments hanging from its branches. Martha placed a full turkey on the center of the table with bowls of mashed potatoes, stuffing, and corn near it. It was only a matter of moments before we all dug in.  
“I heard Superman’s been dealing with a rogue in Metropolis yet again,” Jonathan said as he ate some of the mashed potatoes.  
Lois chuckled. “Yeah, Smallville here is never gonna catch a break.”  
Kal chuckled lightly. “Well, this one was no Lex.”  
Martha nodded. “Something about an alien-robot. Brainy-something or other.”  
Kal nodded. “Brainiac.”  
I sat up. “Brainiac?”  
“An organic android from the planet Colu,” Kal explained.  
“Why was he here?” I asked.  
“He collects worlds in an attempt to gain knowledge.”  
I rose an eyebrow.  
Lois noticed this. “Yeah, I know. Ridiculous way to get smarter, huh?”  
“Extreme, too.”  
“Many of us believe he was the one responsible for Krypton’s destruction.”  
My eyes widened at this. “Brainiac? Destroying Krypton?”  
Kal nodded.  
“I thought Krypton was destroyed because we over-mined our resources.”  
“If only it were that simple.”  
“How did Brainiac destroy Krypton?” I asked, “if he’s actually responsible.”  
“He was able to collect parts of Krypton. Namely Kandor.”  
“What about Argo City?”  
Kal sighed. “That’s when he started having problems. Argo wasn’t going to have any of it, and made sure their troops would fight against him. It ended up creating a war between Brainiac and the Kryptonians.”  
“But we still lost?”  
“The loss was big enough to destroy Krypton,” Kal answered, “but did not get taken like Kandor was.”  
I shook my head. “No, it can’t be. I would’ve known.”  
“Uncle Zor wouldn’t have let you witness it. How old were you? Fourteen?”  
“Twelve,” I answered.  
“Even more of the reason why he wanted to shield you from it.  
“Father wouldn’t have,” I replied.  
“He only wanted to keep you safe, Kara.”  
My hand holding the fork balled into a fist. “You never knew my father like I did!”  
Lois looked down at my hand. Her brown eyes widened.  
I looked down at my hand to see that I had snapped the metal fork in half. My eyes widened at the sight. I dropped the fork to the table’s surface before I stood up from my chair. With that, I stormed out of the dining room.  
“Kara,” Kal called out, but I didn’t stop.  
“Just give her time to adjust, Clark,” I heard Lois say to him as I locked myself in one of Martha and Jonathan’s guest rooms, “she’ll come around. Kara just needs some time to understand why she lost her home.” There was a slight pause. “This is nothing against you.  
I heard Kal sigh. “I know, Lois. But I worry about her.”  
“You just have to give her a chance.”  
“I know, Lois. I know.”

I frowned at that memory. No, there’s no way that my father hid me away from the war between Brainiac and Argo City. There’s no way, right? I shook off the memory. Just another stupid fight between me and Kal. Just like when he interfered with me fighting off Silver Banshee.  
It was just a few moments before I found a small house with a wide backyard. There were targets spread out from each other. A girl in a blue crop top and shorts came out from under the house’s porch. The sleeves of the crop top were long and had three, white stars on each one.. Her hair was long and blonde. A bright red belt hugged her wait. The gloves on her hands matched her belt. In her hand, she held a tall, golden staff.  
I gently landed on the roof of the house and observed the girl. I shook my head. Courtney barely hides her secret identity, does she? Even with that blue mask of hers.  
She charged at the makeshift targets, bashing them with the hook on the top end of her staff. She pushed it off with her boot. She spun around to the other target. She aimed the tip of her staff. A golden blast shot out of it, blasting the target apart. She bent backward and aimed at a target behind her, blowing that one up, too.  
At this point, all the targets had taken some sort of damage. I flew off the roof of the house and floated down. I clapped.  
Courtney jumped before turning around. Her eyes widened under her mask when she saw me.  
“That was pretty good,” I said, “but if Stargirl wants to stay anonymous, you can’t practice out in the open.”  
“Hey,” Courtney replied, “in my defense, this is the best I can get.”  
I rose an eyebrow. “Don’t you have S.T.R.I.P.E. on your side?”  
Courtney/Stargirl shook her head. “Well, yes and no.” She scratched at the back of her neck. “We don’t have a base to train. I mean, being a superhero doesn’t pay the bills, according to Pat. That’s why Diana’s a curator at some museum.” She paused for a second. “Er...was.”  
“She still is,” I said, “just on leave for right now.” I sighed. “Look, I’m here for you.”  
“I kinda assumed. Why else would you be in Nowheres-ville, Nebraska?”  
“I need your help.”  
Courtney/Stargirl pointed at herself. “You need my help?”  
I nodded.  
“And what made you think that I was a good candidate?” Courtney/Stargirl asked, “I mean, I’m pretty good, but like, you’re acting like me joining you will somehow save the world or something.” She chuckled.  
“Because it will.”  
Courtney/Stargirl scoffed. “X to doubt.”  
I sighed. “Really? A dead meme? You’re gonna use that on me? You know I’m technically only a couple years older than you, right? I still know what’s going on.”  
She tilted her head to the side. “Technically?”  
“The Phantom Zone and aging don’t mix.” I shook my head. “No, I’m here because you’re needed.”  
“By who?” Courtney/Stargirl asked, “by a Kryptonian Girl Scout?”  
“By a whole group of superheroes, actually,” I corrected, “I’m just part of it.”  
“Like who?”  
I sighed. “Oh, I don’t know…” I looked up. “Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Black Canary, Zatanna, Green Lantern Jessica Cruz, and Batwoman.” I looked back down at Courtney/Stargirl.  
Her jaw dropped. “Those…” she stammered, “those guys need me?”  
I nodded again.  
Courtney/Stargirl smiled, revealing a braced mouth. “I’m listening…”

We sat down at a small diner only a few miles down from her home. I had changed into a red blouse and dark-colored jeans. I made sure my glasses stayed secure on my face. Courtney had changed into white crop-top with a cartoon panda bear eating a stalk of bamboo. Each of us both had a glass on our side, water for me, lemonade for Courtney.  
“So you guys need me to help solve an epidemic?” Courtney asked before sipping down on her soda.  
“We don’t know if it’s an actual epidemic,” I answered, “it could easily be a bio-weapon.”  
Courtney lifted her head from her drink. She knitted her eyebrows together. “How could someone make a disease a weapon?”  
“Someone who is crazy intelligent,” I said, “that’s who.”  
“Okay,” Courtney replied, “that could literally be any one of the villains the Justice League have fought.”  
“Right now, we think it could be Joker.”  
“Bruh.” Courtney tried to hold back a laugh. “You really think that deranged birthday party clown in Gotham is the one behind it all?”  
“The symptoms look like Joker’s appearance. And knowing what he’s done in the past, it’s not the most ridiculous thing to guess.”  
“Yeah, but you know who else is crazy-smart that the Justice League has fought in the past?”  
“Who?”  
“Lex Luthor,” Courtney answered.  
My eyes widened at this. I bit my lip as I thought at that possibility for a second. “Maybe. I mean, he’s smart enough to find a way where everyone else would catch the sickness, but not him.”  
Courtney shrugged. “I don’t know, Kara. All I know is that this epidemic is spreading like wildfire and Pat’s down for the count.”  
My eyes widened before I leaned in. “S.T.R.I.P.E. is sick, too?” I whispered.  
Courtney nodded. “He’s been too sick to do much of anything for a couple of weeks now.”  
I sat back up. A pit formed in my stomach.  
“Do you know who else is sick?” Courtney asked.  
I sighed. “My adoptive dad is,” I answered, “a lot of the boys at school, just to name a few.”  
“All of the victims are guys?”  
I shrugged. “We don’t know for sure yet, but as of right now, that’s our best bet.”  
Suddenly, gunshots rang out. I turned my head to the entrance of the diner further ahead. Patrons screamed as they tried to evacuate. I turned back to Courtney. “I’ll be back soon.” I slipped out of the chair, took off my glasses, and flew back out. A second later, I came back, but this time, I wasn’t Kara Danvers; I was Supergirl.  
I flew in-between the shooter, who turned out to be a gun-woman with frizzy hair and raggy clothing, and the patrons. “Target practice is over!”  
The gun-woman shot toward me, but blocked more of the bullets from the patrons. I sighed. “C’mon, I’m just like him. Bullet-proof and everything. Your gun’s got nothing on me.”  
A second later, Stargirl flew in further behind the gun-woman with her golden staff. “I think Annie Oakley here needs to learn what it’s like to be the target.”  
The gun-woman turned around and ran at Stargirl shooting at her as she came.  
Stargirl deflected some of the bullets with her staff before aiming the tip of her staff at her. Golden blasts shot out, slamming into the gun-woman’s chest. They were strong blasts. Strong enough where if it was me, Kal would have already flown in to fix my problem. But I am not Kal.  
Stargirl shot at the gun-woman with another blast from her staff. She panted. “You like it? Being target practice?” She shot another blast. “Huh?”  
The gun-woman dropped her handgun to the ground. She gasped for air, but was clearly too incapacitated to do much else.  
Stargirl smirked. “That’s what I thought.” She straightened out her staff before placing it down. Her staff seemed to glow at that. She panted a bit and looked back at me. A smile graced her face.  
I couldn’t help but smile back and gave her a small nod.  
“Supergirl!”  
I turned around to see some of the patrons run up to me.  
“Oh my God!” a girl who seemed to be about Stargirl’s age said, “thank you for saving us! We’d be screwed if it weren’t for you!”  
I looked over to Stargirl. I shook my head. “Oh, I...I don’t think I could’ve done it without Stargirl.”  
Stargirl’s eyes widened at that. “R-really?”  
I nodded.  
The patrons turned their heads toward Stargirl. “Oh my God! Thank you!”  
Stargirl gave off a prominent smirk. “Of course, guys. This is what I do best.”  
I sighed.  
“Can I get a selfie with you, Stargirl?” another girl asked.  
Stargirl grinned at that and joined the girl to get ready for the picture. “Say ‘stars’!”  
Right as the picture was taken, I pulled Stargirl back by the shoulder.  
She recoiled. “Hey!”  
“Well everybody,” I announced, “Stargirl and I have to get going, but you guys have been terrific. Have a safe rest of your day!” With that, I took Stargirl with me and flew out of the diner.

I soared with Stargirl?Courtney high above the diner. I sighed as I let Stargirl get settled with her staff. “Really, Courtney?”  
“What?” she replied.  
“You were starting to let it go to your head.”  
“You said it yourself. Without me, you wouldn’t have been able to do it.”  
I huffed and hung my head for a second. I looked back up at her. “If I’m going to be honest, I would’ve. I could’ve easily incapacitated her.”  
“Then why didn’t you?” Stargirl/Courtney asked, “if you’re so ‘high-and-mighty’?”  
“Because I wanted to give you a chance!” I shouted. I deeply inhaled. “Stargirl...Courtney...I wanted to give you a chance to prove yourself to the world. I saw your training. You have a lot of potential and the others and I can help you with that.”  
“I know.”  
“But to be a good superhero,” I added, “you have to be gracious about the people you protect.”  
“I was just trying to be confident.”  
“But there is a fine line, Courtney.”  
Stargirl/Courtney rolled her eyes. “I can never do anything right!”  
“That’s not true,” I assured her, “you have the ability to do a lot of things right.” I paused for a second. “That’s why you’re going to help us with this crisis. We’ll train you along the way.”  
Stargirl/Courtney gave me a half-smile. “You mean it?”  
I nodded. “Of course I do.”  
She gave me a full smile now. “Thanks, Supergirl!” With that, she flew off.


	17. Batgirl

The door creaked a bit too loudly when I came in late that night. I had tucked away my Batgirl outfit into my backpack.  
“You’re coming back this late?” Dad sat in the living room right next to the fireplace. He had a blanket pulled over him, with a book on his lap.  
“I was out with Alysia,” I lied.  
He moved his head slightly to the side. “With that backpack?”  
“We have an exam on Tuesday, so we decided to study at the Gotham Library together. Then, we went to grab dinner.”  
“Barb, you know it’s dangerous to be walking around late at night in Gotham,” he said.  
“Says the commissioner of the GCPD.”  
He chuckled. “Well, you do have me there.”  
I walked over to him. “Why aren’t you at the police department anyways?”  
Dad sighed before getting into a coughing fit. Even against the fire’s orange glow, it was clear to see how much paler Dad had become. “I called in sick.” He cleared his throat. “In fact, a lot of the guys on the force have called out sick. It’s mainly detectives McKenna, Sawyer, and Montoya.”  
“Melody, Maggie, and Renee?” I asked.  
He nodded. “They’ve been doing a good job taking the helm as far as I know.”  
I felt a pit in my stomach. “But Melody McKenna?”  
“She is terrific on the force.”  
I sighed. “You do know she’s against the vigilantes of Gotham, right? Including your friend, Batman?”  
“She has her reasons, Barb,” Dad replied, “I mean, Batgirl came back a little clumsy since that weird three-year hiatus she had and it backfired on the GCPD, especially McKenna.”  
I felt a pang in my stomach. It sting like a wasp. I frowned lightly at this, but tried to cover it up with a straight face.  
Suddenly, he let out a chuckle. “Speaking of which, there’s been an odd uptick superhero/vigilante sightings here in Gotham from what I heard.”  
My eyes widened slightly. “Really?”  
“From what I heard heroes and vigilantes that usually aren’t in Gotham have been coming around.”  
“Really?” I asked, “like who?”  
Dad looked over at the fire. “Supergirl has been flying around for starters. Wonder Woman’s been seen in the streets. Even this new breacher guy has popped in and out of the city.”  
“Vibe,” I corrected immediately, not even thinking.  
Dad looked back up at me.  
“I mean,” I said, “from what I’ve heard, he goes by Vibe.” There was a slight pause. “He’s kind of a hot topic back at Gotham State.”  
“Whatever the case, “ Dad replied, “the vigilante sightings have been on the rise and the people of Gotham are unnerved.”  
“The people of Gotham or the GCPD?”  
“Well, it can’t just be us.” He paused for a second. “The others at GSU must have some opinion about what’s been going on in the city, right?”  
I shrugged. “I don’t know. The only person at GSU who I really hang out with is Alysia. Sometimes Frankie.”  
Suddenly, Dad let out a cough. It was coarse and deep.  
I frowned at this. “Please tell me you’ve gone to the doctor already.”  
“Will do tomorrow.”  
I sighed. “I worry about you, Dad.”  
“I know you do, sweetheart,” he replied, “and I worry about you, too. Gotham’s been more of a mess lately, and I don’t want you to be caught in it.”  
“I won’t, Dad,” I assured him. I gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I promise.”

The class was already full when I came into my Introduction to Biology class the next morning. There were a few coughs that echoed throughout, mainly coming from the few boys in the class. I snuck into a seat and faced the professor.  
“Babs Gordon is late to class?” someone whispered. I turned to see Alysia smiling at me, with Frankie sitting beside her.  
“Very unlike her.” Frankie cracked a smile, with her brown eyes complementing the smile. She wore her dark brown dreadlocks in a bun. The side of her head was shaved, revealing her ebony-tinted scalp.  
“I had a long night,” I answered.  
Frankie smirked. “Studying, I bet.”  
I thought for a second. “You could say that.” I looked over to see a pair of crutches beside Frankie. “Are your legs flaming up again?”  
Frankie sighed and nodded. “Yeah, it is. You don’t gotta worry about it, though, babes. This bout’s under control.”  
I gave her a small smile. There was a small shaking sound, a heel tapping against the floor. I turned my head to see a girl with a dirty-blonde ponytail sitting over at the other table. I looked down to see her leg bouncing. My eyes widened as I saw how fast it bounced. It bounced so fast, it almost looked like a blur. Like a speedster.  
“You think it’s true what they say about her, babes?”  
I turned to Frankie. “Do I think what’s true?”  
“That Jesse Chambers has ADHD,” Alysia replied.  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Who cares?”  
“I’m not judging,” Frankie replied, “I’ve only heard it through the grapevine.”  
“You know how much info heard from ‘the grapevine’ is wrong more than half the time, right?”  
Suddenly, there was a beep from my phone. I looked down to see an alert on my phone. Golden Glider was on a rampage on Main Street. Why? I hadn’t the slightest idea.  
“You okay, babes?” Frankie asked me.  
I looked to the others. “Yeah.” I stood up. “I have to go.” I reached over to get my backpack.  
“Wait,” Alysia called out.  
I didn’t hear the rest of what she had to say before I left the classroom.

From what I could make out from a distance, Golden Glider’s form was white and translucent. Her long, golden hair flowed in the wind, along with her golden tendrils. She smirked as she shot her tendrils toward people.  
I rolled my eyes before jumping off. I opened my cape and glided down.  
Golden Glider shot one of the tendrils at a businessman with a white, button-up shirt. It would only be another second before the shirt was pierced by the tendril, staining it with his blood and intestines.  
Not even thinking, I threw a Batarang at the tendril. My eyes widened at that. A smile grew on my face.  
Her vision shot my way. Bright gold eyeshadow covered her eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed. “Batgirl…” she growled. She shot her tendrils at me.  
I weaved in and out of them, not a single one striking me. My heart raced and my hand searched for a Batarang in my utility belt. It was only a few seconds before I did. I threw the Batarang at her again. Instead of cutting through the tendril, it remained in-tact as the Batarang went through it. My eyes widened at the sight. Suddenly, she lunged herself at me. I fell on my back, her on top of me. I tried to squirm my way out, but her strength resisted. I threw a punch toward her face, but instead of feeling the jab in my knuckles, I only felt a puff of air roll down. I moved my fist away to see her face morph back into shape. I threw my fist at her chest. Just like before, there was only a puff of air. I pulled my hand back, only for Golden Glider to grab that arm and fling me far behind her.  
My body slammed into a brick wall of a building. I gasped for air as pain pierced my back. I blinked as Golden Glider charged at me. A wheeze escaped me as I tried to get back up. My heart pounded against my chest as I balled my fists. My stomach turned.  
Suddenly, there was a red and yellow blur. My eyes widened to see that it had knocked down Golden Glider. A girl in a red shirt and yellow shorts with a dirty-blonde ponytail stood behind her. I knew of her. She was Jesse Quick, one of the most well-known female speedsters on the Earth. She walked over to the front of Golden Glider in yellow boots. “Going after me is one thing,” Jesse said, “but going after other heroes is another.” Suddenly, her body started vibrating.  
Before I knew it, the two of them had gone intangible, somehow making them tangible to themselves. My eyes widened as I watched Jesse throw speed-punches at Golden Glider, ones she couldn’t phase out of. It seemed like the two of them were on a different plane of reality, one that seemed to not be connected to this one at all.  
After a while, the two became tangible again. Jesse speed-kicked Golden Glider into a lamp post, knocking her out.  
I jogged over to her. “Is she set?”  
“Just need to…” She whipped out thick handcuffs. She strapped one of Golden Glider’s wrists and the other cuff to the lamp post. “There.”  
“Regular handcuffs aren’t going to be enough for someone like her,” I said.  
Jesse nodded. “I’m aware.” She looked to me. “But power-dampening cuffs will be.”  
“Thank you, by the way.”  
Jesse flashed a smile my way. It was a small one, one that didn’t look tense or forced. “Of course. We forget that Supers are supposed to look out for other heroes as well. We’re all in this together.”  
“Speaking of being in this together,” I said, “we need your help.”  
“We?”  
“There is an epidemic that is going around very quickly,” I explained, “specifically among males. The other heroes and I believe the Joker’s behind it all.”  
Jesse scoffed. “That nasty clown?”  
I nodded. “Yep, that nasty clown.” I sighed. “But knowing the Joker, we need someone with your speed on the team.”  
Jesse knitted her eyebrows together. “What about the Flash?”  
“Nowhere to be seen in Central City last I heard. He’s most likely out of commission. As are a few other male heroes.”  
“Like who?”  
“Batman, S.T.R.I.P.E., maybe more.”  
A sigh escaped Jesse. “Well, who’s on our side?”  
“Supergirl, Black Canary, Wonder Woman, Vibe, Batwoman, Huntress, Stargirl, Jessica Cruz’s Green Lantern, Zatanna. Hopefully more. I mean, hell, we even got Harley on our side.”  
“Those are some heavy-hitters already.”  
“But we need as much help as possible. We don’t know how large this scheme is, but from what we do know, it already seems as big as crises we’ve faced in the past. Possibly bigger.”  
“I see…”  
“Can you help us out with this?”  
After a second, Jesse nodded. “Of course, Batgirl. I can’t abandon other heroes.”  
I smiled lightly. “Good.” I leaned in slightly. “Meet us at the Batcave tonight.”  
Her eyebrows knitted together again. “Where’s the Batcave?”  
I pointed at her and shook that wrist up and down. “That’s right, you’re from Central.”  
“Well, Gotham for school,” Jesse said, “I mean, for right now. There’s business I have to take care of here, you know?”  
I nodded. “I understand.” I thought for a second. “Meet me on the quad of GSU at seven tonight. I’ll take you to the Batcave from there.”  
Jesse stuck out her hand. “Sounds like a plan.”  
I reached out my hand and shook it.


	18. Wonder Woman

“You really think that will work, Helena?” I asked.  
Kate, Dinah, Helena, and I stood in the center of the Batcave, with Helena and Kate not wearing their Huntress and Batwoman masks respectively. Helena had a map of Joker’s hideout rolled out in front of us she took from one of Bruce’s database.  
Helena nodded. “I know it will.”  
Dinah sighed. “So, let me get this straight: you want to have Harley get back into that jester outfit of hers, pretend to crawl back into his life as a henchwoman just to find out what his current schemes are?”  
Helena smirked. “Someone’s catching on.”  
“I gotta get back in that tight jester costume?” Harley whined from her cell, which was not very far from the center of the Batcave.  
Helena turned her head slightly in that direction. “You do what we tell you to, Quinn!”  
“Awh, c’mon!”  
A scowl appeared on Helena’s face. “No!”  
Harley let out a groan. “But it squeezes in all the wrong places!”  
Helena’s hand balled into a fist. She slammed it against the map. “What about ‘no’ do you not fucking get, Quinn?!”  
“Yer no fair, Hunty!”  
Helena’s forehead looked like it was about to burst a vein. “I..go..by..HUNTRESS!”  
A frown drew on my face as my eyes widened.  
“I say we get back to the plan,” Kate said.  
“I agree,” Dinah chimed in.  
Helena looked back at us. She huffed. “Anyways, we have Harley distract Joker and steal the scheme. Once we realize what his plan is, we have Wonder Woman come in from one of Vibe’s breaches and use her Lasso of Truth on Joker to figure out how to cure the illness.”  
I blinked a couple times before a smirk replaced the frown on my face. “Oh, so now you believe in the Lasso of Truth.”  
“I saw what I saw when you used it on Harley,” Helena explained, “and since Harley hasn’t tried to escape…” She pursed her lips together and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “I have to admit that she was correct.”  
“Otherwise she would’ve been back with Joker by now?” I added.  
“Exactly.” She chuckled. “For once, she can actually leave that deranged fucker.”  
I shook my head. “But Harley’s correct. This is unfair to her.”  
Helena scowled. “So? She’s a convict. Consider this her comeuppance.”  
“An ex-convict that was manipulated by madman, sister.”  
“If you are weak enough to get manipulated by the Joker, then you deserve what comes next.”  
“She is a person.”  
“And so were the people she terrorized with the Joker,” Helena replied, “you know how much blood is on her ledger, Diana.”  
“Might I add that yours is not the cleanest, either?”  
Helena scoffed. “I kill only to those who deserve it. I don’t just axe anyone off when I feel like it.” She cracked a smile. “It’s funny that what you’re saying is coming out of the same woman who snapped Maxwell Lord’s neck on live TV fifteen years ago.”  
A scowled formed on my face. “He told me under the Lasso of Truth’s influence that it was the only way.”  
Dinah rolled her eyes. “We’re getting off topic. Are we or are we not using Harley as our mole?”  
“No!”  
“Yes!”  
Kate shook her head. “We’re never gonna find a middle-ground.” She buried her face in her hands.  
Far away, there was a crashing sound. I winced at the sound of metal grating against what sounded like rock. My teeth gritted at that screeching halt.  
Dinah looked over at me. “Everything okay there, Diana?”  
“I…I heard something.”  
Helena furrowed her eyebrows. “What?”  
“It sounded like...like something crashed.” My eyes widened. “I have to go.”  
Dinah gave me a small smile. “Go get them then, Wonder Woman.”  
I gave her a smile back before I flew out of the Batcave.

I flew over a hiking trail on the outkirts of Gotham. An alien pod had crashed at the site, with a long skidmark made in the dirt and gravel from where it had originally landed. I flew down toward the pod. The sleek design had Krypton written all over it. From what Kara had explained to me when I first met her, this was a perfect match. All but one thing: in black, thick letters, it read, “Property of the Legion of Superheroes”.  
I knitted my eyebrows at this. I went over to the front of the pod. The windshield was that of a one-way mirror. I frowned lightly. The others would need to inspect this with me. I ran over to the back and tried to pick it up. Intense pressure pounded down on my biceps as I tried to lift the pod up even the slightest bit. It would be impossible for me to fly this to the Batcave, and dragging would take far too long and make too much noise. I placed the pod back down on the ground. It landed with a loud tink. I sighed before tapping on the comms. “I found a space pod. It’s too heavy to lift, even with my strength.” I thought for a second. Then it hit me. “Send in Vibe.”  
Suddenly, there was a light blue breach that appeared in front of me. Vibe exited the breach before it blinked out of existence.  
I smiled lightly. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”  
He smiled back at me. “No problemo. I mean, who wouldn’t want to help out Wonder Woman herself?”  
I couldn’t help but smile a bit. “Like your enthusiasm.”  
Vibe looked over at the pod. His eyebrows shot up over his goggles. “Oh, damn. What’s this?”  
I turned to the pod. “I’m not sure.” I looked back at Vibe. “That’s why I need your help.”  
“What’s up?”  
“The pod is made out of a metal that even someone like me can’t pick up.”  
“Bruh,” Vibe responded, “you can lift a tank!”  
“This is no tank, I’m afraid,” I said, “but this is why I need your help. I need you to create a breach to the Batcave so this can be further investigated.”  
Vibe nodded. “One breach to the Batcave coming right up!” Right then, a large, light blue breach appeared.  
I looked over at Vibe. “Thank you.” I went back to the pod. “Once I bring this to the Batcave, you may leave. I’ll contact you if you are needed.” With that, I pushed on the back of the pod, pushing it through the breach.

It was only seconds before I was back in the Batcave. I panted a bit once I stopped pushing it. Even for something as simple as that, it felt like I was moving a mountain.  
“Whoa.” Dinah ran over. “What is this?”  
“I’m not sure.” I walked over to the lid. A sigh escaped me before I turned to Kate and Helena. “Help me, will you?”  
The two of them came over and helped me lift the lid of the pod open. Inside, a man of about twenty years old sat inside. His peach-colored eyelids were closed, with slight stuble along the lower part of his face. He wore a red bodysuit that had gold accents with a dark blue pair of boots and cape. On one of his hands, he wore a ring with a symbol that had the letter “L” next to a shooting star on it.  
“That’s not Lex’s handiwork, is it?” Kate asked.  
I shook my head. “Lex’s insignia is different from this.” I turned to the others. “But I don’t have an idea as to what else this could be. All I know is that this pod came from the Legion of Superheroes.”  
Helena scoffed. “A likely story.”  
“It says it right on the side of the pod.”  
“For all you know, it could have just been an incapacitated enemy they fought and decided to shoot it back into the 21st century so that some other generation could deal with them. Hell, he could be the very thing that is causing the illness to spread at the rate it’s spreading. That thing could be the source.  
Kate went over to examine the man in the pod. “He doesn’t look too pale.” She looked back up at Helena. “I doubt that’s the case.”  
“Well.” Helena picked out an arrow from her dark purple gauntlet and notched it into her crossbow. “I don’t want to take our chances.”  
My eyes widened. “Helena, don’t!”  
She fired the arrow toward the man’s chest. It sliced through the air before ricocheting off and piercing one of the screens of the Batcave’s surveillance monitors.  
My jaw dropped at the sight.  
“Holy shit,” Dinah muttered under her breath.  
Helena’s eyes grew wide. “It’s Kryptonian!”  
Kate smirked. “That’s what you get for trying to axe him off prematurely.”  
I went over and lifted the man out of the pod from under his arms. “Can one of you help him to the medbay of the Batcave?”  
Kate came over and picked up his legs.  
Helena frowned. “Well, we can’t get him off of the hook. He can’t avoid questioning.”  
“Who said I wouldn’t?” I replied.  
Helena followed us to the medbay. “It’s just too suspicious, his way of coming. Think about it, he appears, in a spaceship, right as the illness gets worse. Do you not realize he could be the spawn of it and is just not showing symptoms?”  
“Then he’ll be our first patient.”  
Helena rose an eyebrow. “Are you implying that we’ll have to play ‘doctor’?”  
“If the cases requires it.” I looked down at the man. I sighed as a thought crossed my mind. “And if he really is Kryptonian, we’re going to need Supergirl on this.”


	19. Supergirl

The hallways of National City High were almost bare this morning, with mainly girls and a few boys who somehow hadn’t gotten sick yet. On a bulletin board, there were posters pinned up about good hygiene. I sighed at this. The sickness had gotten this bad.  
“Hey Kara,” Lee said as they walked over to me.  
I turned to them and smiled. “You haven’t gotten sick?”  
“Amazingly, no.” They sniffled a little.  
I chuckled as the two of us started to walk down the hallway. “Famous last words.”  
Lee shook their head. “Nah, I’m pretty sure this is just a cold.” They sighed. “Speaking of that.” They stopped walking. “I saw Supergirl not that long ago.”  
“Your gal pal in the sky, huh?” I teased, cracking a smile.  
Lee shrugged. “I mean, yeah.” They sighed. “Between you and me, she told me that...something’s up about it. Like, it’s not just like a regular illness.”  
I knitted my eyebrows together. “Really?” My voice cracked the slightest bit.  
They nodded. “Yeah. She’s been working with some of the other heroes about it, like Batgirl, Wonder Woman, a few others. They think the Joker’s behind it.”  
I scoffed. “I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if that ended up being case.” I paused for a second. “But, why are you telling me?”  
“You’re an intern at CatCo,” Lee explained, “this is topical. Coverage of this can help clear up the air about this. CatCo can finally focus on something important for once!”  
I bit my lip, taking in the suggestion.  
“And no offense, but the topics you guys have been pumping out have been kind of lackluster,” Lee said, “I think the last good thing to come out of there was when Supergirl cleared her name a while back when I sent in my story with them.”  
I smiled at that memory. A bullied kid on the verge of suicide until Supergirl came down to just...talk it out with them. I guess before I...I mean, Supergirl, came to their aid, no one else even gave them the chance.  
“But that’s beside the point,” Lee added, “you gotta bring this to peoples’ attention, Kara. Someone’s gotta tell them, and they’ll listen to you.  
My eyes widened slightly before blinking a couple times. “You mean it?”  
They nodded.  
I smiled at that. “Maybe, Lee. Maybe.”  
Suddenly, there were screams from far away. I could hear lasers being shot. The sound was far from the high school, but still in National City. My eyes widened at this. I turned to Lee. “Hey, I have to go, but I’ll meet back up with you later, okay?”  
Lee furrowed their eyebrows. “You okay?”  
“Yeah, it’s just...I forgot that there’s something I need to do. We’ll meet up later, promise.” With that, I speed-walked away, trying my hardest to not kick into super-speed. I felt a pang of hurt in my stomach. How many times did I leave Lee hanging to go be Supergirl? I headed into the girls’ bathroom before changing into my Supergirl outfit and putting a small comm connected to the Batcave in my ear, and flying out of the bathroom’s window.

The wind whipped past my ears as I flew into the center of the city. My eyes widened when I saw it: a woman in different shades of green, from her lime-green hair to her dark green cape and boots. There seemed to be a white, floating orb beside her. “Where is she?” she growled.  
“You looking for someone, lady in green?” I called out.  
The woman turned her head. The orb turned around, too. Chills sent down my spine when the orb turned to reveal an emerald-green iris and pupil. The woman smirked at me. “So nice to finally meet you, Supergirl.” Suddenly, the eye-looking orb shot out a green beam at me, striking against my chest. It stung as I fell to the ground.  
I landed on the side of the building, my back to the wall. I stumbled as I stood back up. “Who are you?” I asked. “What do you want?”  
The woman flew over to me. “Oh, I’m afraid I haven’t formally introdiced myself.” She shot out a blast at my shoulder from her hovering eye. “I’m the Emerald Empress.”  
I gritted my teeth at the stinging pain. I looked up at her. She had a green tiara on with a decorative green eye in the middle. I winced. “What’s up with you and eyes?”  
Emerald Empress growled. “How dare you disrespect the Eye of Ekron!” She shot out more beams at me, some I was able to block with my cape.  
I looked from out of my cape. “Is that all you can do?” I smirked as I used my heat-vision on her. Right as it was about to burn her collarbone, she created a neon-green forcefield around her. The heat-vision lasers bounced off of it and at my upper-torso. My eyes widened at the seering pain. “Gah!”  
Emerald Empress smirked back. “Even a strong Kryptonian like you isn’t invulnerable.”  
I gritted my teeth. “What do you want?”  
“To stop you before you have the chance to take everything away from me!”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “What?”  
“You’re the one that the Legion of Superheroes were inspired by. You and Superman.”  
“What are you talking about?”  
Another green blast struck my chest. I winced at the pain.  
“If I can stop you right now,” Emerald Empress added, “I can stop the Legion from ever existing. I can have complete control.”  
“Maybe the Legion had a reason why they had to monitor you.” I used my heat-vision on her right as she used her beams at me, the two clashing against each other. As much as I tried to push my heat-vision onto her, the more her beams forced themselves onto me. After a few moments, my heat-vision gave out and I was blasted on my collarbone and fell back. I panted as my whole body seemed to sting.  
Emerald Empress smirked as she towered over me. “I’m honestly surprised. I thought I’d have more of a fight with a Kryptonian like you, but you, Supergirl, you are weak.” Her smirk grew wider. “And yet the Legion looked up to you.” She laughed at this. “Pathetic.”  
Suddenly, there was a teal blast that slammed into the back of Emerald Empress’s head. She fell back, stunned. A girl in a blue and gray jumpsuit stood behind her. She wore a blue domino mask and her brunette hair straight down.  
My eyes widened at this. “Th-thank you.” I stumbled as I tried to stand back up.  
“Of course.” The girl smiled at me. “I kinda dreamed this would happen.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Huh?”  
“Because I can..dream..the future.” She sighed. “I’m Dreamer.”  
“I...I don’t think I’ve heard of you before,” I said, “no offense.”  
“That’s because I’m new to this kind of thing.”  
Suddenly, Emerald Empress stood back up. She spun around to face Dreamer. “You little bitch!” She sent out a blast that sent her flying back into the air.  
My eyes widened as my hands balled into fists. “What is wrong with you?” I swung my fist toward her temple. She created a forcefield, blocking my hit.  
She smirked at me from inside the forcefield. “I can do this all day.”  
“Oh yeah?” I asked. The second she let it down, I slammed my other fist into her temple. “So can I.”  
An African-American woman in an orange bodysuit and short, brunette hair flew in with Dreamer holding her by her teeth. The woman looked over at me with her amber eyes as she flew down and gently put Dreamer down. Once she put Dreamer down, I could see a necklace with a charm in the shape of a fox around her neck. “Need a hand or two, Supergirl?” she asked in a sultry voice.  
I smiled at this. “I could definitely use your help right about now, Vixen.”  
Emerald Empress gritted her teeth at both Dreamer and Vixen. She let out a growl.  
Vixen placed Dreamer down on the ground. She glared at Emerald Empress and shook her head. “Don’t even play me in that game.” Suddenly, a light blue hologram of a puma appeared in front of her. It roared before dissipating. Vixen smirked. “Because I can do you one better.” She let out a roar before charging at her.  
Emerald Empress shot more of her beams at Vixen, but was agile enough to dodge the beams. Vixen pounced onto her, but Emerald Empress created another forcefield, causing her to bounce up.  
I looked over behind Emerald Empress. There was an empty space behind her. I looked back at her. She focused her vision in what was in front of her. I flew over to Dreamer and brought her to the side. “You and Vixen attack her from the front.” I looked back at that floating eye. “I think I have an idea.”  
Dreamer nodded. She ran off and threw more blasts at Emerald Empress. She deflected them with the blasts that came from her floating eyes.  
I took in a deep breath as my heart raced. I flew behind Emerald Empress before swooping in from behind. My hands opened as my teeth gritted. “Give it up, Emerald Empress.” I grabbed onto the floating eye, one hand on one side. “It’s over.” I ripped the eye apart, revealing green veins and blood vessels from inside the eye.  
Emerald Empress’s jaw dropped. Her eyes widened. “No! NO!” She ran over to the remains of the eye. “My poor Eye of Ekron! You hurt my eye!” She glared at me. “You little--!” Suddenly, her hand started to fade away. She gasped lightly as she examined her hand and arm, which started to dissipate more. Tears welled up in her eyes as more of her body started to fade away. “I was supposed to win!” She glared at me. “I WAS SUPPOSED TO WIN!” It was barely a few moments before she disappeared entirely.  
I stood back, panting quietly.  
“We did it!” Dreamer announced, her voice light and cheery.  
I nodded as a smile formed on my face. “Yeah, we did.” I looked back at them.  
“I have to admit,” Vixen replied, “the three of us make a pretty good team.”  
“I think so, too.” I paused for a second. “Maybe you two could help me with something.”  
“What’s up, Supergirl?” Dreamer asked.  
“There’s a crisis coming,” I responded, “I’m pretty sure it’s already come.”  
Vixen furrowed her eyebrows at that. “You’re saying that a crisis is already here?”  
I nodded.  
“But I haven’t had any dreams about an incoming crisis.” Dreamer bit her lip. “I mean, I don’t think I have, anyway.”  
“It’s been affecting mainly males,” I added, “and it’s spreading like wildfire. It’s been around for a couple weeks now, so I get why you guys wouldn’t know just yet.”  
“Wait,” Vixen said, “I believe I know what you’re talking about.”  
“Pale skin, chills, sweating,” I added, “do those ring a bell.”  
“I believe so.”  
“Because a few of us believe there might be someone behind it, specifically Joker.”  
Dreamer scoffed. “That clown?”  
“Unfortunately, yes.”  
Vixen shook her head. “I always knew Joker was smart, but insanely brilliant? That’s new.”  
“Brilliant, but twisted.”  
Dreamer looked to me. “Whatever Joker’s planning, I can help you guys get at least a couple steps ahead of where he thinks we are.” She looked between Vixen and I. “Be...because I can...I can dream the future.”  
“And an arsenal of the whole animal kingdom can’t hurt,” Vixen added.  
Dreamer’s eyes widened and turned to Vixen. “Wait, you mean, like the...the whole...animal...kingdom?”  
“How else would I have caught you if I didn’t embody a pelican?”  
Suddenly, I got a beep into my comm. I put my finger up to it. “Everything okay?”  
“Supergirl,” Wonder Woman said over the comm, we need you to get to the Batcave, stat.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing yet,” she answered, “but we found an alien who we think is Kryptonian, but we don’t know for sure. We need your help in case this is crucial to stopping the crisis.”  
I nodded. “Got it. Be there soon.” I took my finger off the comm, disconnecting. I turned to Dreamer and Vixen. “Hey, you guys want to take a trip to the Batcave?”

Vixen and I flew into the Batcave as I held Dreamer from under her arms. I gently put Dreamer down as she looked around the cave with wide eyes.  
“This...this is the Batcave?”  
“This is the place,” I answered.  
“Whoa,”Dreamer murmured.  
The three of us walked toward the cortex. Wonder Woman stood at the center.  
“You needed me?” I asked as I approached her.  
Wonder Woman furrowed her eyebrows. “Dreamer and Vixen?”  
“They helped me take down Emerald Empress,” I explained, “plus, they agreed to help us.  
She sighed. “Alright.” She put her arm around me as she led me to the medbay. “Come with me, Kara.”  
In the medbay, there was a man laying down on one of the beds. I noticed his red bodysuit instantly. It had golden accents that were weaved subtly in the fabric. There was a dark blue cape attached at the shoulders with dark blue boots to match. He had light brown hair and light stubble on his peach-colored face. His eyelids were closed.  
I looked back at Diana. “You sure he’s Kryptonian?” I asked, “because he just looks like someone who’s either a hero or dressed as one.”  
“A Kryptonian pod crashed on the outskirts of Gotham,” she explained.  
My eyes widened. “He’s Kryptonian?” I could feel a small smile grow on my face.  
“We don’t know yet.”  
I thought a bit more on this. After a few moments, my smile faded. “Wait, if he’s Kryptonian, was he in the Phantom Zone for that long?”  
“I doubt it,” Diana replied, “on the pod, I found words saying that it belonged to a group called the Legion of Super-Heroes.”  
I looked back at the man. “Is he one of their prisioners?”  
“To be honest,” Diana replied, “I’m not sure. Either way, we’ll need answers.”  
Suddenly, I heard a raspy gasp from in front of us.I turned my head to the sound.  
The man’s eyes hot open, revealing ocean blue irises. He turned his head, looking around. “Where am I?”  
“Um…” I replied, “the Batcave…?”  
His eyes widened at this. “Did I...did I make it?”  
Diana furrowed her eyebrows. “Make it to what?”  
“Did I make it to the 21st century?” he asked, “early 21st century?”  
“Um…” I blinked a couple of times, my eyes wide when they opened. “Yeah. It’s 2020.”  
“Then we may still have time.”  
“Still have time?” I looked to Diana, then back at the man. “Time for what?”  
“To stop the Pallidus Homo disease?”  
I rose an eyebrow. “Huh?”  
“The Pallidus Homo disease,” the man said, “you guys named it. The Legion on I better know it was the ‘Pale Man’ disease.”  
“Wait,” I replied, “we named it?”  
“You guys would,” the man said, “eventually…” He seemed to smile to himself. “I arrived in time.”


	20. Batgirl

I stood on the roof of the library of Gotham State on the campus’s quad as the sun started to set, casting a pastel orange onto the sky. I looked down at my phone. 5:56 pm. Jesse Quick would be here soon.  
Suddenly, there was a blue light. I turned to see a breach. Vibe exited out before it blinked out of existence. He looked to me and smiled lightly. “You come around here often?”  
A smile appeared on my face. “Well, I do live in Gotham and I’m in college, so yes, I do ‘come around here often’.” I couldn’t help but chuckle lightly. “Wait, where did you come from?” I asked.  
“Just helped our girl Wonder Woman with this pod thingy.”  
I chuckled. “Pod thingy?”  
“Hey, it was alien, and that kind of stuff is hard to describe.”  
I shrugged. “I guess.” I thought for a second. “How did you find me?”  
“Vibers have the ability to know where people and things are,” Vibe answered, “the psychic link of natural energies come with being my kind of metahuman. I knew you were in Gotham and since Gotham’s a bit...rough, I figured you could use a hand.”  
I rose an eyebrow.  
Vibe quickly noticed this. “Teamwork makes the dream work, you know.”  
I smiled as I knitted my eyebrows together. “So, let me get this straight: metas like you are called ‘vibers’ and your name is ‘Vibe’?”  
“It’s straight-to-the-point,” he claimed.  
“And a little bit too much on the nose.” I smiled a bit.  
“Damn, Batgirl,” Vibe teased, “not like you’re a hero that’s dressed up as a bat and goes by ‘Batgirl’.”  
I smirked. “Touché.”  
Vibe walked over to me. “Anything crazy happen yet?”  
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you that I wasn’t looking for it right now,” I responded, “I’m actually waiting for someone, so I’m not really looking right now. That being said, Gotham’s been unreasonably quiet lately.” I chuckled. “For once, I can breathe.”  
“Is that how you became Batgirl?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Was the crime and injustice the inspiration behind Batgirl,” Vibe asked, “or is there more to your origin story?”  
“Origin story?”  
“How you came to be the hero you are today,” Vibe said.  
“You want the short story or the long one?”  
“Which version tells your story best?” Vibe asked.  
“Long story-short: Batman,” I answered, “but long story-long, I was a freshman in high school curious about the vigilante who had been protecting Gotham for as long as I had known. I had been curious before, but it wasn’t until then could I actually get the chance to learn more about him myself. So, my brother and I went to the Gotham City Police Department to do more research on him. Through it, the GCPD discovered a makeshift suit that Batman had when he was first around in Gotham. Then, a riot broke out and my brother was held hostage. In order to save him, I took the suit and wore it in order to protect my brother. From there on out, I realized that Batman couldn’t be alone protecting Gotham. Even all the Robins he had could only do so much, and so, I came in. Batman noticed my work, took me in to train, and it went from there. That’s how I became Batgirl.”  
Vibe’s eyebrows raised over his goggles. “That is quite the origin story.” He chuckled. “For once, it’s not to avenge a dead family member or something.”  
I chuckled back.  
“Didn’t know you had a brother, though.”  
“Older brother,” I added, “but I don’t really talk to him anymore.”  
“Why is that?”  
I bit my lip. “We just...um, went our different ways.” I sighed and turned to Vibe. “What about you?”  
He shrugged. “I have an older brother, too, but he’s just really a big--”  
“I meant your origin story,” I replied.  
“Oh.” He put up two fingers. “Two words: particle accelerator.”  
“Oof!” A cringe grew on my face. “That sounds rough.”  
“I knew the guy who made the thing,” Vibe said, “I was interning for him at S.T.A.R. Labs in Central City as a mechanical engineer, and I was helping him make the thing. He created the majority of it, though. That was like, his everything for more than half of the year I worked with him. He never thought it’d blow up in his face. Literally.” He sighed. “So, considering how I got my powers from it, it could’ve been worse.”  
I frowned at that. “I’m sorry to hear that.”  
“Not your fault.” Suddenly, a chuckle escaped him. “Funny enough, I didn’t get them right away.”  
“You didn’t?”  
“They were kinda dormant for like a few months after that accelerator exploded.”  
“Why did you decide to become, well, Vibe?”  
“Same as you.”  
I smirked. “You were inspired by Batman and were in the middle of a prison riot?”  
He giggled and shook his head. “Nah, not like that. And not with the Bat himself. Just another hero.”  
“Are you sure? I mean, Batman’s pretty damn inspirational if you ask me,” I teased. I chuckled lightly at that. “Who inspired you, then?”  
“The Flash,” Vibe answered, “I knew him since he became the Flash. Day one, basically. He did things that I don’t think I could ever do as Vibe.” He sighed.  
I smiled. “So that’s why he’s your favorite. You know him.”  
“We’re close. Best friends, really.” His smile faded and he let out a sigh. “The illness, it got him, too. The moment I found out, I knew it was bad. I had to think of heroes I could turn to, people who I knew would take it seriously, but not one I’d be too star-struck by. So, I went to you and Supergirl.”  
I faked a pout. “Aw, damn, I’m not special?” I chuckled lightly.  
Vibe shook his head. “No, no, not like that. I meant like, you and Supergirl, you guys are more likely to be down-to-Earth.” He paused for a second. “What I’m trying to say is that you should see it as a compliment. You’d see me as more than just a fanboy.”  
I smiled. “You’re a hero just like us. Why would any of us treat you differently?”  
“I’d worry I’d have to live up to how they are. But I don’t want that. I just wanna be me. And you two, I knew that I could be myself with you guys and get anxious. I was already scared enough, I didn’t want to add on to it. I could be calm around you two.”  
I couldn’t help but smile a bit.  
Suddenly, there was a red and yellow blur. It cleared up in front of us, revealing Jesse. “You said you needed me?  
I nodded.  
Vibe looked to Jesse. “Wait, are...you’re Jesse Quick!”  
She nodded back with a small smile on her face. “Hey, Vibe.”  
“Oh my God.” He grinned widely. “Barry, I mean, the Flash, he’s told me so much about you.”  
“Didn’t know I was popular.”  
There was a beepig from the comm in my cowl. I put my finger to the side of my cowl to answer. “What’s going on?”  
“We need all of you back to the Batcave,” Wonder Woman said through the comm.  
“What’s up?”  
“We found someone who might help us, but we don’t know for sure.”  
“Why do you need everyone?” I asked. I looked over to Vibe and Jesse.  
“We need backup, just in case,” Wonder Woman said, “we don’t know how powerful he is. He’s cooperative so far, but we don’t know if he’ll go rouge. Just in case, Batgirl.”  
I sighed. “Be there soon.” I turned off the comm and looked to Vibe. “Can you make a breach to the Batcave?”  
Vibe nodded before creating a breach. With that, the three of us crossed over from library’s roof to the entrance of the Batcave.

I looked over to see Jessica Cruz in front of us.  
“Oh my God,” Vibe said, “it’s one of the Green Lanterns!” He grinned widely. “You guys are so cool!”  
Jessica looked directly at me. “Wonder Woman was wondering when you would come.”  
I walked over to her. “What’s going on?”  
“To be honest,” she said, “I’m not sure, but Wonder Woman wanted everybody.” She looked over to Vibe and Jesse. “I guess she doesn’t have to call for them.” She turned around and led us to the main cortex of the Batcave.  
The main cortex was crowded with other heroes. I tried to sneak through the crowd before I bumped into what felt like a shoulder. “Sorry.”  
Stargirl turned around. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”  
“Stargirl?”  
She smirked. “That’s me.”  
“How did you get here?”  
“Wonder Woman sent a comm. Did you not know?”  
“I got the comm, too, but...this many others came?”  
“Your guess is as good as mine, Batgirl.”  
I sighed. “Excuse me.” I moved passed her and toward the front of the group. My eyes widened a bit at the sight. A man in a red bodysuit with a dark blue cape was tied up to the Lasso of Truth. Wonder Woman held the other end of the lasso while Huntress stood next to him with her crossbow in hand. My eyebrows furrowed at this. “The hell?”


	21. Wonder Woman

“Is this necessary?” the man asked.  
“This lasso will compel you to tell us the truth,” I explained, “and we need the truth now more than ever.”  
Huntress slammed the head of her crossbow against the man’s temple. She gritted her teeth. “You play any games with us or try to dodge questions, I will send a kryptonite bullet straight into your goddamn brain.”  
The man didn’t flinch.  
Huntress glared at him. “Did you hear me, or are you deaf?”  
“Kryptonite won’t work on me,” the man muttered.  
She scoffed. “Yeah, right. I can see right through your bluff. You can’t fool me.”  
I sighed. “Huntress.”  
She looked up at me. “What?”  
“He’s telling the truth.” I looked down at the lasso.  
Huntress’s eyes followed mine before looking back at him. “You got lucky.” She pulled the crossbow away from the man’s head.  
“Wait!”  
I looked over to see Supergirl fly toward the front of the other heroes. “If kryptonite won’t work on him, he’s not Kryptonian.”  
“I’m a Daxamite,” the man said, looking at Supergirl. He sighed before looking back at the others.  
Supergirl smiled lightly. “Another alien…”  
I looked back to him. “Can we get your name?” I asked.  
The man looked back at me. “Mon-El.” He paused for a second. “ Also known as Valor in the 31st century.”  
“So I’m assuming you’re a superhero like us, correct?”  
“I came from the Legion of Super-Heroes,” Mon-El said.  
“So that’s why the side of the ship said it belonged to them,” I said to the others. I looked toward the back. “He’s one of us.”  
“I…” Dreamer replied, “I kind of figured.” Her voice was shaky. “I mean, with the cape, the...the suit. You know.”  
“Plus,” Vixen chimed in, “I wouldn’t think that a legion of superheroes would bring a threat onto innocent people, past or present.”  
Huntress smirked. “Mon-El, quick question: Daxamites have a weakness, right?”  
The man’s head nodded, but was stiff. “Ye...yeah.”  
Supergirl looked to Huntress. “Oh Rao. Please don’t go this way.”  
Huntress smirked. “And what would your weakness be?”  
His voice trembled. “Le...lea...lead.”  
Supergirl’s jaw dropped. “What the hell? You really had to pull that shit on him?”  
“You don’t get it, do you, Supergirl?” Huntress retorted, “how do you know we can trust him? We need a fail-safe in case he turns on us.”  
I looked over. “Huntress!”  
She put her hands up in the air, her crossbow pointed up. “I’m just saying what we’re all thinking, Wonder Woman.”  
“I came to help!” Mon-El shouted.  
I looked back at him.  
“The Legion sent me in the pod to help stop the crisis before it begins to alter the future.”  
“What would the altered future look like?” I asked him.  
“We…” Mon-El replied, “we aren’t sure. If this crisis worsens, we believe that the future may not even exist.”  
My eyes widened at this. I blinked a couple of times and took in a deep breath. “Do you know who created the disease and unleashed it?”  
He shook his head. “It’s a dark period. We don’t know anything about how the disease came to be.”  
I untied Mon-El from the Lasso of Truth. “Thank you for your cooperation.”  
“That’s why we need Harley as bait, Wonder Woman,” Huntress said. She shrugged. “If the crisis is as bad as this time-traveller says it is, well, what other choice do we really have?”  
I sighed. “You...you are right, Huntress.” I pursed my lips. “We will have to use Harley since ambushing him right on the spot has proven dangerous in the past.” I looked over at Stargirl, Dreamer, and Mon-El. “And in order to do it successfully, we have to work as a team.” I looked back at Huntress. “That being said…” I walked over to her and tied her wrists together with the Lasso of Truth.  
Huntress’s eyes widened at this. “Hey!” She struggled against the rope.  
“What is your real name, Huntress?”  
“Helena Rosa Bertinelli,” she blurted out. Her eyes glared at mine as I untied her. “The hell is wrong with you? Outing me like that?”  
I held the Lasso of Truth tightly in my palms. “I am Princess Diana of the Amazons, but I am better known in man’s world as Diana Prince.” My grasp loosened lightly. “In order for us to work together, we must be truthful and open. And if we can do that, we can find more options.” I unspooled the lasso and passed it out for everyone to hold. “No more secrets.” I sighed. “Who are all of you truly?”  
“Barbara Gordon,” Batgirl said first, “Babs for short. I’m a student at Gotham State University.”  
Jesse looked to her. “Hey, you’re in my Intro to Bio class!” She chuckled. “I had no idea you were Batgirl.” She cleared her throat. “Jesse Chambers, student at Gotham City University..”  
“Kate Kane,” Batwoman stated.  
“Dinah Lance,” Black Canary said, “lead singer of Ashes on Sunday.”  
“Zatanna Zatara,” Zatanna said, “mistress of magic.”  
“Courtney Whitmore,” Stargirl said, “high school sophomore.”  
“Jessica Cruz, female Green Lantern of Earth.”  
“Mari McCabe,” Vixen said, “fashion model.”  
“Nia Nal,” Dreamer replied, “trans rights activist.”  
“Francisco Ramon,” Vibe replied, “but everyone calls me Cisco...you know, when..when I’m not Vibe. Mechanical engineer intern at S.T.A.R. Labs.”  
“Mon-El, Daxamite hero of the 31st century.”  
“Kara Zor-El,” Supergirl said, “better known as Kara Danvers.”  
The others turned to her.  
“Wait, Kara Danvers is Supergirl?” Jesse asked.  
Kara nodded.  
Cisco’s deep brown eyes widened at this. “Holy shit! This is so cool! I’ve heard so much about your work at CatCo.”  
“I’m just an intern who sometimes gets her work published,” Kara admitted.  
“That’s so cool, though!”  
“What is it like when you have to write negative articles about Supergirl as Kara when you’re her?” Courtney asked.  
I frowned as I spooled the lasso back into my hands from everyone’s grasp. “We don’t need to bombard her with questions.” I sighed. We had bigger questions to answer.


	22. Supergirl

“So what happens now?” I asked Diana.  
She sighed. “Huntress and I need to go over the plan with Harley. For all of you, I feel that some sparring can help prepare for the ambush tomorrow night.”  
Barbara’s bluish-green eyes widened. “Tomorrow night?”  
“If our hunch is correct, then getting Joker tomorrow night will stop the disease from getting worse as soon as possible.” Diana looked to Kate. “I need to have a briefing with both Huntress and Harley about this ambush. While that is going on, can you run the sparring?”  
Kate nodded. “I’ll show them the way.” With that, she led the others out from the cortex while Diana and Helena walked in the opposite direction, heading to where the cell was.  
“A training room?” Courtney asked as we followed Kate, “in the Batcave?” She scoffed. “Yeah, right.”  
“How many times have you been in the Batcave, Courtney?” Kate replied.  
Courtney’s voice stuttered. “Uh...once?”  
Kate smirked. “That’s what I thought.” She led them to a wall. She typed in a code into a keypad.

The wall rose up, revealing a vast, empty room.  
I turned to Barbara. “Does Batman train in here?”  
“He’s trained me and all of the Robins in here,” she answered.  
We flooded through the opening before the wall closed down again.  
“I need everyone to stretch before we pair off,” Kate announced.  
“Pair off?” Courtney asked as she started doing lunges.  
“I need to see who’s abilities are who’s, so when I regroup with Diana, I can help make any last-minute changes to the plan.”  
Courtney scoffed. “Sounds like a flimsy plan if that’s the case.”  
“It’s a provision,” Kate said, “just in case.”  
Courtney rolled her eyes as she stretched her arms.  
I looked over at Mon-El, who was further away. He revealed strongly-built biceps as he stretched out his arms. My eyes widened slightly at this. Butterflies filled my stomach. My mouth quivered a bit, but words failed to come out. I felt my cheeks grow warm.  
I heard footsteps approach me. “Is Kara blushing?” Babara teased.  
My eyes widened as I turned to her. “Babs!”  
Barbara grinned. “Kara, I saw that blush on your face.”  
I shook my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. The corners of my mouth tugged up into a smile.  
She pointed at my mouth with her dark-yellow glove. “I see that smile.”  
I playfully pushed it back. “Babs, I don’t think of him like that.”  
“Seriously?” She chuckled. “Well, since you don’t like him,” she said, air-quoting, “I’ll call dibs.”  
“Babs!” I couldn’t help but smile back.  
“What?” she asked, “I mean, look at him. He’s like…” She put a hand up. “Damn.” Barbara shrugged. “I mean, if I were you. But he’s an alien.”  
“So you’re xenophobic now?” I teased.  
She put up both of her hands. “To be fair, I’d want to be with someone on my level, you know? At least he’d be on yours.”  
I cocked my head to the side slightly. “Yeah, I guess I can see where you’re coming from.”  
Kate stood in front of us. “Okay, I want Courtney and Nia up.” The two of them went up and stood in front of her.  
Courtney had her staff with her. She smirked at Nia. “You see this golden boy? This thing can shoot out beams of pure solar energy.”  
Kate swiftly plucked the staff out of Courtney’s hands. Her eyes widened at this. “Hey!”  
“You need to focus on your strength from within,” Kate said, “not just from a staff.”  
“Pfft.” Cournety rolled her eyes. “Still have the Cosmic Converter belt.” She looked over at Nia. “Wait, what even are your powers?”  
“Well...uh…” Nia replied, “I can dream the future…?”  
Courtney cracked a smile before she choked out a laugh. “You...you’re kidding, right?”  
Nia shook her head. “N-no. I...I got it from my mom.”  
Courtney’s laugh grew louder. “Oh my God. Am I sparring against a psychic?”  
Nia slightly glared at her.  
“Bruh,” Courtney said once her laughing started to die down, “you literally stand no--”  
Nia shot out a sky-blue blast from her palm at Courtney right in the face. It slightly knocked her back.  
My eyes widened at this, with my mouth making an o-shape. “Damn,” I muttered to myself.  
Courtney stumbled back up. She scoffed. “Yeah right. Beginner’s lu--”  
Nia grabbed Courtney’s wrist and pulled her toward her, causing Courtney to lose her balance. She twisted the wrist as she did a handstand over Courtney. Nia loosely wrapped her legs around Courtney’s neck, flipping her over.  
My eyes widened at this sight. “Oh my Rao!”  
Courtney quickly tapped as Nia held her down. “Okay, okay!”  
Nia smirked. “Don’t underestimate the new girl.”  
Jesse speed over in the blink of an eye to break them up. She helped Courtney up as she stumbled.  
Kate sighed as she rubbed her face with her hand. “Oh my God. Okay.”  
I turned over to Mon-El. “That...that was pretty good, right?” My voice stuttered slightly.  
He turned to face me. “Were you talking to me?”  
My face grew hot again. “I...I mean, I kinda thought so.”  
He cracked a smile at me. I didn’t realize how pearly white his teeth were until now. Pearly white and perfectly straight. I wheezed through my nose as I couldn’t help but smile back.  
“You’re Kara, right?” he asked.  
I nodded as my lips pursed into a smile. “That’s me.”  
“Worst case, I could see from the coat of arms on your suit that your Supergirl.”  
I looked down and smiled down at the red “S” symbol on my chest. “Yeah, that’s...that’s me.” I looked over to see Mari and Jessica square up to spar in front of us.  
“I’m assuming you have the same powers as your cousin,” Mon-El said.  
“All the same, just female and younger.” I paused for a second. “If you’re from the future, wouldn’t you know everything there is to know about me?”  
He chuckled. “I don’t know everything,” he said, “but I know Brainy would know all about you.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Brainy?”  
“His full title is Brainiac 5.”  
My eyes widened at the sight. “Brainiac?”  
He shook his head. “No, not that one. Brainiac 5. He’s a descendant to him, though. Nothing like the Brainiacs before him.”  
“So he’s not fighting super-men,” I teased.  
“He doesn’t fight against them,” Mon-El replied, “he fights with them.”  
I looked over to see Jessica slam Mari to the floor with a giant, green, holographic hand that projected from her lantern ring. Mari embodied a panther before trying to claw her way out. While her claws did scrape at the hand, it was clear she was pinned to the ground.  
“Did he come to the present?” I asked.  
“No,” Mon-El responded.  
I looked back at him. “Why did they send you alone in that pod?”  
“I didn’t come alone. Someone just reached the present sooner than I did.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows at this. “Huh?”  
Kate went over to where Jessica and Mari were. “That’s time.”  
The green, holographic hand dissipated back into Jessica’s ring. She looked to Mari. “That was good.”  
“Next time I’ll embody a rhino,” Mari replied.  
Jessica smiled lightly at that.  
“Okay,” Kate announced, “I need Kara and Mon-El up.”  
“I guess,” I said as I stood up, “that’s us.” With that, I flew over to the center of the floor.  
He flew behind me. “You know that Daxamites can’t actually fly? Only the ring gives me that power.”  
“The one thing that makes Kryptonians and Daxamites different on Earth, huh?” I asked.  
“That and the lead weakness,” Mon-El replied before getting into a fighting stance.  
“Are you seriously allergic to lead?” I got into a fighting stance as well, my fists blocking my chest.  
“Well, kinda.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows again. “Kinda?”  
“It’s still a weakness,” Mon-El said, “but I had to take a special medicine in the 31st century. If I hadn’t been to the future, I’d be allergic.” He smirked lightly. “Don’t tell Helena or Diana that.”  
“And...go!” Kate said.  
I swung a punch toward his temple. “Can’t believe you lied while tied against the Lasso of Truth.” I watched as he ducked the punch.  
“I didn’t lie.” Mon-El swung back, jabbing his fist at my jaw. “It would be if I didn’t take the medicine.”  
The punch stunned me slightly, but I was able to shake it off. I used my super-breath at him, only pushing him back slightly. His feet made slight indents into the floor. He winced at the wind. After a couple moments, I stopped to catch my breath. “Nice way to circumvent the lasso’s power.”  
He smirked back at me. “I try.” Mon-El ran at me with superspeed, knocking me down.  
I looked up at him for a second before shooting myself up. He fell back and looked up at me. I used his heat-vision and aimed it at his shoulder. He quickly blocked it with his deep-blue cape, which didn’t burn even the smallest hole in it. My eyebrows furrowed at that. Suddenly, it reached over and wrapped around my wrist and flipped me over. My body hit the floor as my mind raced. I looked up at him. “What on Earth was that?”  
He smirked. “My cape. With it being made in the 31st, century, we used Smart Cloth for it.”  
I flew up and used my heat-vision. It burned from his leg, up his chest, to his fist.  
Mon-El let out another groan before flying up to me. His fist slammed into my chest, forcing me back. I flew back at him, my fist zooming toward him, but his cape grabbed my wrist again and threw me back into a wall.  
My head hit the concrete wall before I slammed into the ground. Pain screamed around my head and across my chest as I tried to lift myself up. I panted before falling down. My head was stuck in a daze.  
“Okay!” I heard Kate shout out.  
“Crap,” I muttered to myself. Even in the daze, it was clear as day: I lost. I looked up to see a hand in front of my face. A weak chuckle escaped me. “You beat the ‘Girl of Steel’.”  
Mon-El gave me the tiniest of smiles. “Good fight,” he said.  
I took his hand and he helped me up.  
“I’m sorry for that, by the way” he added, “I didn’t mean to punch you like that. The second you hit the wall, I knew I messed up. When I sparred with the Legion, the Legionnaires and I got really rough. I should’ve realized you wouldn’t have been used to that.”  
I shook my head, mainly to see if I could shake myself out of the daze. “Yeah, yeah.” I looked over to see Barbara run over to me.  
“Kara, are you okay?”  
“I...I think so,” I muttered.  
She sighed. “Let’s hope that speed-healing kicks in soon.” Barbara held me around by the back and led me back with the others.  
I sat beside her. I looked over at Mon-El, who followed nearby. “Apology accepted,” I muttered. A sigh escaped me. Already part of the pain started to wear off.  
There was a metallic sound echoed throughout the room. Diana brought in a handcuffed Harley, with Helena close behind.  
“I’m assuming you’ve briefed her?” Dinah asked.  
Diana nodded. “She knows the plan.”  
“What time should we report back here tomorrow?” Barbara asked.  
“Seven,” Helena replied. She had her crossbow up against Harley’ head, in case she tried to escape the handcuffs, but she didn’t seem to budge.  
I frowned at this as I rubbed hand fingers against my temple. “And we’re still using Harley as bait?”  
Diana sighed. She wore the tiniest of frowns. “Yes.”


	23. Batgirl

I paced throughout the cortex of the Batcave. It had just been an hour since the sparring practice. Twenty-two more hours until the ambush on Joker’s hideout in Gotham. Images flashed through my brain. The silver barrel of the gun before his pale hand pulled the trigger. The red smile on his white face, revealing the most twisted of smiles to ever disgrace the Earth.  
“Barbara?” Cisco’s voice asked.  
I looked over. Jesse and Cisco stood at the other end of the cortex. I sighed. “Oh...hi.”  
The two of them walked over to me. “Is everything okay?” Jesse asked.  
“You’ve been pacing like crazy,” Cisco added.  
I sighed. “Yeah….I guess I have.” I bit my bottom lip.  
“This...this is about Joker, isn’t it?” Jesse replied.  
My eyes widened before I blinked a couple of times. I took in a deep breath.  
Jesse gritted her teeth. “Oh shit. We...we didn’t mean to.”  
“Wait,” Cisco said, “something happened between Barbara and the Joker?”  
“Cisco! It’s clearly sensitive to her.”  
I put a hand up. “No, no, it’s fine.” I looked at Cisco. “Yeah, something did happen between me and the Joker. About four years ago.”  
“Can I ask about it?” Cisco asked.  
“I don’t mind.”  
“What happened?”  
I sighed as my stomach turned. “When I was fifteen, about a year and a half after being Batgirl, the Joker decided to target my dad, who is the commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department. He wanted to see if he could break him. And so, he decided to raid our house. When I opened the door, I…” My stomach turned over. “I saw his deranged smile before he shot my chest.”   
I looked at Cisco. His brown eyes were wide.   
“I was paralyzed from the waist down after that,” I added, “as soon as my dad could, he got me into physical therapy. It wouldn’t be another three years before my dad helped me get an experimental therapy to help me get the use of my legs back. Amazingly, it worked and I went back to being Batgirl.” I sighed. “But that...that clown...he has haunted me for the past four years of my life.”  
“So this raid…”  
“Is personal,” I replied, “very personal.”  
Cisco covered his mouth. “Barbara, I...I’m so sorry.”  
I shook my head. “It’s not your fault. Not like you’re the one who pulled the trigger.”  
“Can I ask...what did you do in-between your paralysis and your treatment? I mean, like, besides the physical therapy?”  
“I still fought crime if that’s what you mean.”  
Cisco furrowed his eyebrows. “How would that even be possible?”  
“Oh, Cisco,” I said, “with the skills I have, anything is possible.”  
Jesse smirked. “Oh, are you talking about what I think you’re talking about?”  
“I was a informatioin broker for the Birds of Prey at one point in time.”  
Cisco’s eyebrows shot up. His lips formed the shape of an “o”. “So, you were like, the guy in the chair?”  
My mouth opened. “I...I mean, I guess? Kinda. I had a codename then, too.”  
“What was the codename?”  
“Oracle.” I walked over to the Batcave’s computer system and turned on the monitor. “Let me see if I can…” It was only a few second before I found the Oracle interface. It loaded up, displaying a black background with a green silohouette of a woman’s face with a bald head. I half-smiled at this. “Can’t believe Batman kept the program.”  
“Barbara,” Jesse said, “do...do you think it may be best to hang back for this ambush?”  
“No,” I replied, “it’d be a disservice to myself if I did that.”  
“You sure?”  
“I’m more than sure.”  
A small smile appeared on Cisco’s face.

The living room was dark when I came back home. Dad laid back in the recliner, with a throw blanket over him. He was asleep, with his glasses still on his face. He hadn’t gotten up from that seat in days. I sighed at this. A frown formed on my face. If I couldn’t prevent this health crisis for anyone else, I had to do it for him.  
Suddenly, my phone buzzed. I sighed and went into my room. I picked up the phone. “Kara?”  
“Hey,” she said from the other end of the phone. “I heard from Jesse that you weren’t feeling too great.”  
I sighed. “I’m just nervous.”  
“About the ambush?”  
I nodded as I held the phone to my ear. “If I’m gonna be honest, yeah. But I’m still doing the ambush. No matter what I have to do.”  
“I know you are. I know how much this means to you, Babs. I just want you to be okay.”  
“I know you do. I promise you, Kara, I’m gonna be okay.”  
There was a slight pause in the call.  
“You’re brave to face off against the Joker after all you’ve been through,” Kara said.  
“Thanks, but you’re the brave one. You’re the one who had to adapt to an foreign planet and then grew to defend it after only a handful of years. That’s bravery right there.” I smirked lightly. I let out a small huff through my nose. “Besides the Batfam, you’ve always been so supportive during that time.”  
“You’ve always been supportive of me, too,” Kara said.  
We both chuckled.  
“But it really means a lot, Kara,” I replied, “I need this now more than ever. I appreciate it.”  
“Of course,” she said, “you got this, Babs. I know you do.”

I rode my Bat-bike into the Batcave the next day. I checked the time right as I parked. 5:30 pm. If I went to my night class, there would be no way I’d make it to the ambush on time. I looked over to see Diana, Kate, Dinah, and Helena at the other end of the Batcave. They looked over at me.  
Helena smirked. “You came early.”  
“I skipped my lab,” I responded.  
Diana’s eyes widened slightly.  
“Hey, I’ve been doing well in the class anyway. One absence isn’t going to make or break my grade.” I sighed. “Harley’s still in her cell, right?”  
“It’s the Batcave, Barbara,” Dinah said, “she’s not gonna escape that easily.”  
“Good.” I kept walking past them.  
Harley was sitting upside down at the edge of her bed. Her ponytails hung down. She looked over at me. “Aww, no Vibe Boy?”  
I shook my head. “He didn’t come with me.” I sighed as my stomach turned. “I...I’m sorry the group decided to do this.”  
“Ta do what?”  
“To use you as bait,” I explained, “and to keep you cooped up in here.” I paused for a moment. “You don’t deserve it, you know.”  
She chuckled. “Thought I was the bad guy.”  
I shook my head. “Mischievious, yes. But, bad is...that’s not the right word I would use to describe you now.”  
“Ya don’t gotta suga-coat it, B-Girl. I’ve been acquianted with reality a time or two.” She rolled over, laying on her stomach and looking at me right-side up. “I mean, I’m used ta all this. The longer I’m in this joint, the more it feels like Arkham, but less of Ivy around.”  
I cringed slightly. “It does?”  
Harley nodded. “It does, B-Girl.” Suddenly, she broke out in laughter.  
My eyes widened at this. “Uh, Harley?”  
She kept laughing. “I get it now, B-Girl.” Her blue eyes were wide. “I finally fuckin’ get it. I…” She was interrupted by her own laughter. “I’m just everyone’s plaything, huh?”  
I frowned at that.   
“That’s all I eva am to everyone I meet. First with Mistah J, and now you guys.” She sighed. “Everybody thinks I’m some bimbo ta just be passed around. Like I got no agency. They don’t think about me an’ how I feel about all of it.” She snickered. “And that’s before I get thrown in a cell.”  
Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching us. I looked over to see Helena in her Huntress outfit. She scowled at us, but specifically Harley. She opened the cell and walked in before yanking on the ponytail with the pink ends.  
“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!” Harley whined as she was dragged out of the cell. “Hunty!”  
“I’m Huntress, bitch.” She slammed her into the ground. “And nothing else.”  
Harley stumbled as she stood up. She pouted.  
Huntress shoved a red and black jester costume into Harley’s chest. “Change into it.”  
Harley’s eyes widened at this. “I...I gotta wear this?”  
“We need to fool the Joker.”  
She stomped her feet. “But I don’t wanna!”  
Huntress pointed her crossbow directly into Harley’s forehead. “You do what I say now or I will put a hole in your brain. Do you hear me, Quinn?”  
Harley nodded. “Yes, Huntress.”  
My eyes widened. Her voice hadn’t trembled since she escaped Joker.

I went back over to the cortex. The other heroes were there, as if waiting for Harley to be ready. I found Cisco with Kara and Mon-El in their superhero outfits. “Um,” I muttered, looking at Mon-El, “what do I call you again? Like, when you’re in that outfit?”  
“Valor,” Mon-El responded.  
I nodded. “Got it.” I looked over to see other heroes come in. Zatanna, Black Canary, Jesse Quick, Vixen, Dreamer, Stargirl, Jessica Cruz in her Green Lantern garb. I sighed. “We’re really doing this, huh?”  
“He’s the only lead we have,” Cisco said as he put his vibe goggles on.   
“He has to be,” I said, “the symptoms say it all.”  
“And we’re about to stop him,” Kara reassured.  
I bit my bottom lip. “I’ll be able to give him a piece of my mind after all these years.”  
Diana came over to me. “Batgirl, can I see you for a bit?”  
“Uh, yeah.” I walked over to the side with her. “What’s up?”  
She handed me a black earpiece. “I need you, Batwoman, and Huntress to lead the operation.”  
My eyes widened slightly. “Me?”  
Diana nodded. “I know you’ve done infiltration before, I know you can help lead the way.”  
I exhaled through my nose as I looked backat the comm. “You think so, Diana?” I asked before looking back up at her.”  
“I know so, Barbara.”  
I looked to the others. “Is everyone here?” I surveyed the group. The last ones to come in were Huntress and Harley, who was wearing the jester costume again. I took in a deep breath. “Let’s roll out.” I turned to Cisco before he created a breach for us to go through.

“So, this is the place?” Dreamer asked.  
The lair was on the outskirts of an abandoned amusement park. Its entrance was of a giant face of the clown prince of crime himself, with the entryway being through the face’s mouth. Rats squeaked as they scrambled past us.  
A cringe appeared on Zatanna’s face. “Cleanly place you had here at one point, Harley.”  
“Hey,” Harley shouted.  
Huntress slammed the back of her crossbow into Harley’s stomach. “Shut it, Quinn,” she muttered.  
Suddenly, a deep, manaical laugh echoed throughout the place.  
“It’s Joker,” I said. I turned to the others. Batwoman, Huntress and I have the eyes and ears of this. We’ll make sure that Harley’s infiltrated and we’ll signal when to jump in. Understtod.”  
The group nodded collectively.   
“Good, now everybody, line up around the perimeter.” I looked to Harley. “ Do what you need to do.”  
Harley sighed. “I’m just gonna day that I really, really, really don’t like you guys.” With that, Harley went inside.  
I climbed up onto the roof, which was made out of glass. I turned on the comm that I put in my ear and placed the binocular over my eyes.  
“Knock, knock, Mistah J,” Harley announced with a slightly shaky voice as she walked into Joker’s hideout. It was dark, but had enough light to tell who was who.  
The Joker’s paper-white skin turned to face her. “Harley, darling? Is that you?”  
I cringed at this. My stomach turned.  
“It sure is, Puddin.” She faked on a smile. “Back an’ ready than eva!”  
Joker drew a crimson grin on his face. “Excellent, my pet.”  
“What’s the plan ya need help with?” She followed Joker. “Robberies? Hostages? Arson?” Her eyes widened as she gasped. “Oooh! We should plan out a murder!”  
I got intercepted from the comm.  
“We need to intervene,” Huntress sain.  
“No, we don’t,” I assured her, “Harley’s just gussying up to Joker. We can reel her back in.”  
“You sure about that one, Batgirl?”  
“Positive.” I went back to observing Harley and the Joker.  
“Or maybe ya already got yer own plan already, right?” Harley nudged Joker’s shoulder with her fist.  
“You know, Harley,” Joker said, “I want to hear about what you have been up to since you left me at that musis festival a while back. I mean, that was quite the exit you made that day.”  
“Well...that’s me.” She wore a half-smile on her face.  
“You know that’s what I always loved about you, Harley.”  
She furrowed her eyebrows. “R-really?”  
“Of course.” He went over and squished her cheeks. “And that face. You have a face that no one could ever forget.”  
“I do..” Harley’s face straightened. “Didn’t know that one.”  
“You know, Harley,” Joker said, “it’s been so...so long.” He leaned toward her. “I suggest that we...try again.”  
Harley pouted lightly. “Um, I think we should start by talking about your latest scheme.” She pulled back.  
“Aww, pumpkin.” He snaked by her ear. “I thought you’d want me to to...rev up my Harley.”  
Harley’s eyes widened. “That’s it!” She shoved him away from her.  
“Everyone, get in!” I shouted. “Now!” I slammed my foot into the glass causing me to fall through. I used my cape to glide down. I threw a Batarang at him, but he caught it with one hand.  
Joker turned to me. “Ugh! You bats never learn, do you?”  
I glared at him. “It’s over, now.”  
He chuckled. “You really think you one bat can stop me?”  
“Oh, I didn’t come alone.”  
A breach emerged, with the other heroes coming through it. Huntress tried to shoot an arrow at Joker with her crossbow, but he quickly dodged. Vixen embodied the animal of a rhino and rammed into him.   
Dreamer shot a sky-blue, oneirokinetic blast at Joker, but also dodged it. “Dang it,” she muttered to herself.  
Supergirl shot her heat-vision at Joker’s chest.  
“AHHH!” Joker’s eyes grew wide at the burn. He growled as he picked up a knife and threw it toward her.  
Supergirl quickly used her freeze-breath, stopping the hurdling knife in mid-air before falling to the ground, shattering the ice around it.  
Joker found another knife and threw it at me. I barely had time to think before a breach formed in front of me leading to a wall behind me.  
I looked behind my back to see Vibe with his open hands in front of his chest. I smirked. “Looking out for me?”  
“Can’t not look out for my partner.”  
I smiled lightly at this.  
“The gig’s up, Joker!” Zatanna shouted. She murmured a spell before sending a violet blast at Joker’s chest. “Nuts mih!” Zatanna said as she sent another blast at him.  
Joker fell to the ground. The other heroes surrounded him, with Harley next them. Wonder Woman swooped in tied him in the Lasso of Truth tightly. “Not dodging this one.”  
I turned to Wonder Woman. “Hey, I got this.” I turned to him. “What have you been up to?”  
“Oh...I don’t know,” Joker said, “arson, larcery, hijacking, homicide.” He flashed a wide grin at me. “The usual.”  
My stomach turned again before shaking my head. “You disgust me.”  
“Then that’s a job well done in my book.” He looked to Harley. “Isn’t it, Puddin?”  
She frowned at him. “Ya don’t call me Puddin.”  
His eyes widened. “You sneaky, little bitch!”  
Harley laughed in response. “I try.”  
I grabbed Joker by the collar. “What have you been doing these past few weeks, Joker? What are you planning?”  
“Well, it can’t be a surprise if I tell you, wouldn’t it?”  
I slammed my fist into the Joker’s cheekbone. “You have ten fucking seconds to answer me, clown!” I glared straight into his wide, gray eyes. “Did you or did you not devise this disease to terrorize the population?”  
Joker started to let out his signature maniacal laugh, slowly growing louder and louder with every passing second. He grinned at me. “Oh, Batgirl,” he said, “if I were to create a disease, I wouldn’t make it just affect men like you’ve heard on the news: I’d make sure it would infect everyone.”  
I gritted my teeth together. “I don’t believe you, you clown!”  
“Batgirl!” Supergirl called out, “look down.”  
I brought my head down. Joker’s chest was wrapped in the Lasso of Truth. My eyes widened as my eyebrows shot up. “No, this...this can’t be!”  
“Oh, but it is, Batgirl,” Joker said, “you thought you could pin this havoc all on me. But in reality, I’m not the one who’s behind all of it.”  
My heart raced as my eyes watered up. My hands trembled. Flashbacks of that night four years ago ran through my head again. “No,” I murmured right as tears streamed down my face.


	24. Wonder Woman

I slammed the bottom part of the hilt of my sword into Joker’s temple, knocking him out. I turned to the others. “We got our answer. Everyone head back to the Batcave.” I turned to Huntress. “And get her out of that demeaning outfit.”  
Harley let out a sigh of relief. “Finally!”  
“Get Joker to Arkham, too,” I said, “him and Harley need to be miles away from each other.”  
Batwoman sighed. “Wonder Woman, you know he’ll just escape when he gets the chance.”  
“As long as he is far away from Harley,” I responded, “preferably in a place where he can be watched over.”  
Batwoman nodded. “Got it.”  
The others looked to me. “So, if it’s not him,” Stargirl said, “what do we do now?”  
I sighed. “To be honest, I’m not sure, but we...we will figure it out.” With that, I led the others out of the Joker’s lair.

It was late at night by the time everyone had left the Batcave. It only seemed to be myself, Barbara, Helena, and Kate, with Harley back in her cell. I looked over to see Barbara pacing throughout the cortex.  
I walked over to her. “Barbara?”  
She continued to pace, as if ignoring what I was saying.  
I frowned at this. “I know this is not easy for you.”  
Barbara huffed. “No shit, Diana.”  
I watched her pace back and forth more. I sighed. “I wish I could get you the closure you deserve.”  
“How could’ve it not been him?” Barbara questioned. She stopped her pacing. “Every single damn sign pointed to it. Every single symptom, Diana. Ever since I got that hunch, I knew exactly how I was going to defeat the Joker, even after all the hell he put me through, just to prove that I could bounce back from him crippling me.” She paused for a second. “And then...then it all falls apart.”  
“You do not need to prove anything to anyone.”  
“Easy for you to say,” Barbara replied, “you’re the daughter of an Amazon queen and a god! You are literally the embodiment of everything that’s perfect. You don’t need to prove anything to anyone because they all believed in you from the get-go. The other heroes and I, we have to, just so we’re free from being convicted outlaws. Whenever one of us screws up, we have to rely on people like you, and Clark, and Bruce to prove that heroes like us can even be trusted.” She chuckled. “Let alone even walk this Earth without people putting targets on us.”  
I sighed before nodding. “It is true,” I said, “I am a demi-goddess, but I still had things I needed to prove when I first arrived in Man’s World.”  
“And what’s that?” Barbara asked. She paused for a second. “That you could prove to everyone that women can be strong? Good for you, they got the message.”  
I shook my head. “It was more than that.”  
“Then what, Diana?”  
“I had to prove that I had good intentions.”  
She looked at me, blinking once.  
“When I first came to Man’s World,” I explained, “I could have easily dominated the people here. I had been trained since I was a little girl to fight. Most civilians in Man’s World do not have that luxury. When I became Wonder Woman, I had to show everyone that I would fight for truth and justice, not for power or greed. But after a while, I knew that as long as I stayed true to myself and my own morals, I would be able to do what was right.” I looked at Barbara and gave her a half-smile, placing my hand on her shoulder. “I see a lot of myself in you, Barbara.”  
She rose an eyebrow. “You do?” Then she furrowed them. “But I don’t even have powers like you or Kara.”  
“You don’t have to have power to do the right thing,” I assured her, “do not give up or fret becaue your hunch was wrong. I’ve had mine be wrong dozens of times before.” I paused for a second. “Keep doing what you’re doing and you will be able to help stop this crisis.”  
She sighed. “You think so, Diana?”  
I smiled. “I know so, Barbara.”

Midnight had just passed when I came back. Steve was lounging on the bed, barely sitting up. I walked over to him. His skin had grown paler. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead.  
He looked up at me. “Hey, angel.”  
I smiled lightly. “Hi.”  
Suddenly, he let out a loud, raspy cough.  
My smile turned into a slight cringe. “You’ve gotten worse.”  
He let out a weak chuckle, barely even a breath. “It got the better of me.”  
I frowned. “How long have you been in bed?”  
“Oh, I don’t know.” Steve sighed and looked up at the ceiling, as if trying to count in his head. “A couple of...days, maybe?” He paused for a second. “It’s hard to tell how much time passes when you’re cooped up in here.”  
My eyes widened. “By Hera!”  
“Besides, I can barely move even if I wanted to.” Suddenly, Steve let out another loud, raspy cough. Thick phlegm with traces of blood landed on the sheets.  
I leaned over to Steve and helped him sit up.  
He weakly rose an eyebrow, with a smile still plastered on his face. “What are you doing, angel?”  
“We need to get you to the hospital.”  
Within an hour, Steve had been brought into a hospital room. He was spread out on the bed, with bright fluorescent lights above, giving the room a white aura. The room smelled of disinfectant. A female doctor with black hair and dark skin examined him. “Pale skin, sweating,” she muttered as she observed him, “and trembling of the body, most likely chills.” She paused for a second. “And Mr. Trevor, have you been experiencing any other symptoms?”  
“I mean, the cough’s been pretty bad.” As if on cue, Steve let out another loud, raspy cough.  
“A rough one, too, by the sounds of it.” The doctor sighed.  
“What is it, doctor?” I asked.  
She turned and looked to me. “Just about a textbook case of Pallidus Homo.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “I’m sorry?”  
“The Pale Man disease,” the doctor explained.  
My eyes widened at this. Mon-El was right: the disease would get worse enough to get a formal name.  
“We’ve recently been experiencing a surge of this illness. We aren’t sure how people have been contracting it.”  
“Or how it’s only affected men.”  
She sighed. “That’s the curious part of it all.”  
“Have you found any possible treatments yet?” I asked.  
The doctor sighed. “Nothing that works too long, I’m afraid. You give them the same home remedies you’d give someone with the flu and they only ever seem to get worse.” She shook her head. “And by the time they’re on bedrest like Mr. Trevor, they barely make much movement.”  
I crossed my arms. “I see.” My tapped my finger against my arm.  
“I know this is a scary time,” the doctor said, “for all of us.” She paused for a moment. “But someone once taught me that in order to stand in the face of troubling times, we must have hope, help, and compassion...for all.”  
“Supergirl,” I muttered. Kara.  
Suddenly, far off, there was a crashing sound. I turned my head to the window to see dark white clouds covering the sky. Flakes started swirling in the sky.  
“Doctor,” I said, “can you please tell me what month it is?”  
“It’s early October.”  
I sighed, biting my lip again. I turned to Steve and the doctor.  
“Everything okay, Diana?” Steve asked weakly before coughing.  
“Yeah,” I replied. I paused for a moment before turning away from the window. “I’ll be back in a few.” With that, I speed-walked out of the hosptial room.

I flew over into a nearby city, Fawcett City. A blizzard pounded down onto the streets. In the center was a woman in a fur jacket over a blue shirt with the design of a sharply-pointed snowflake on the front. Her skin had a light-blue tint to it. Her hair was in long, white curls. She glared at me. “Wonder Woman.”  
I unraveled my Lasso of Truth. “Killer Frost.”  
Flash has told me about her. Caitlin Snow, a bio-engineer and scientist at S.T.A.R Labs; better known as the host body of the meta-human, Killer Frost.  
I flew at her, about to unsheath my sword, but she formed an ice and threw it into my arm. My teeth gritted at this. The ice dagger was translucent, with a white tint at the end pointing out. The cold of the ice dagger stung before I ripped it out. I flew back at her and slammed the toe of my boot into the bottom of Killer Frost’s chin. She reacted with a strong, white blast of snow, sending me back into a car door. She sent out a stronger blast, but I managed to cover myself with the shield on my back.  
I looked up to see Supergirl and Valor flying overhead. A breach formed beside me, with Batgirl and Vibe coming out of it. “How did you guys find out what was going on?” I asked.  
“The Batcave alerted us,” Batgirl said.  
“And super-hearing,” Supergirl added.  
Vibe turned to see Killer Frost at the center of it all. His eyebrows shot above his goggles. “Caitlin?!”  
Killer Frost smirked. “Caity’s not here.”  
“How do you know her?” Batgirl asked.  
“She works at S.T.A.R. with me,” Vibe answered.  
I swung my Lasso of Truth at Killer Frost, only for her to shoot me back with a blast of snow. The lasso didn’t surround her.  
Supergirl shot her heat-vision at Killer Frost. Despite the heat, Killer Frost only seemed to get stronger. She balled her hands together, then loosened her hand, making a barrier of ice surrounding her.  
I looked up to see Valor flying in from above. He started punching the wall of ice. Chunks started to chip away, before one more punch sealed the deal and broke it down.  
Killer Frost gritted her teeth as she witnessed this. She shot a blast of ice at Valor, freezing his feet and arms in place.  
Supergirl’ eyes widened at the sight. She flew down before using her heat-vision to melt off the ice.  
I flew at Killer Frost. I swung the lasso around before releasing it. Finally, I got her wrapped around in it. I pulled her closer, and held the lasso tight.  
Vibe ran over. “Where’s Caitlin?”  
“I thought I told you,” Killer Frost said, forming a white mist in the palm of her hand, “she’s not here.”  
“God damn it, Killer Frost!” he shouted, “I know she’s in there.”  
She smirked. “You wish.”  
Vibe growled before sending a vibe blast at Killer Frost’s face.  
She snickered. “Is that really all you got?” She let out a scream before unleashing an ice blast at everything around her, sending us flying back.  
I slammed into the wall of a building. I looked over to see that Vibe had been knocked into another car.  
Suddenly, a girl’s voice cried out. “SHAZAM!”  
I looked over to see a woman with peach-colored skin standing near. She had a light red dress with a lightning bolt on the front. She had a white hood and cape attached to the dress, with a golden trim along the edges.  
I smiled at this. “Mary?”  
She smirked lightly. “That’s me.” She flew over at Killer Frost. She bent her fingers up before summoning a lightning bolt into her hands. She threw it at her.  
Killer Frost convulsed as the bolt struck her.  
Mary Marvel flung another one at her.  
“Not too much!” I called out. I gritted my teeth as I held onto the lasso.  
Mary Marvel threw one last lightning bolt. Killer Frost screeched before there was a white blast, sending us flying back. Everything went white.

After a few moments, the snow settled. I panted softly. I blinked to see a woman with peach skin and long auburn hair.  
“Caitlin!” Vibe ran over to her and hugged. “Thank God you’re okay.”  
Caitlin smiled and hugged him back. “Me too.”  
I looked over to see Batgirl, a bit further back from the two. Below her bat cowl, she wore a small half-smile, half-frown. I sighed. “Vibe, Batgirl, could you help Caitlin to the Batcave?”  
Vibe nodded before creating a vibe in front of the three of them.  
I flew over to Mary Marvel. “I have to say, you had some pretty good timing.”  
Mary Marvel smiled lightly. “Thanks, Wonder Woman.”  
“If I’m going to be honest,” I said, “I’m surprised that Shazam didn’t appear.” Then a smile formed on my face. “That being said, I’m lucky to even have someone from the Shazamily help out.”  
She wiped her hand across her face. “I really hate that they call us that.”  
I chuckled. “How are you doing?”  
“Well,” she said, “I have a few college applications I’m working on. So, there’s that.”  
“How’s Billy?”  
Mary Marvel sighed. She pursed her lips into a frown. “He...he’s not doing too well.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “He’s not?”  
She nodded. “He...he’s in the hospital.”  
My eyes widened at this. “What?”  
“He’s sick. Really sick.” She sighed.  
“He’s not sick with the--?”  
“Palladius Homo disease,” she said, “the Pale Man disease.”  
My mouth opened slightly. Boys were getting sick, too, not just grown men.  
“I know that you guys are trying to find who’s behind it,” Mary added, “and I want to help.”  
I gave her a half-smile. “Well, we could always use a helping hand.”  
As much as Mary Marvel wanted to help, even if we got all the help in the world, time’s starting to run out.


	25. Supergirl

It was four in the afternoon when I came into CatCo from school. When I walked in, I noticed how empty a handful of the desks were. A frowned formed on my face. Usually, male employees of CatCo used those desks. I quickly surveyed the office floor. From what I could tell, there was only two: one that I had barely ever worked with before who had been working for CatCo at least a year more than I have, and Ben.   
His usually dark skin was incredibly pale. I lowered my glasses and used my telescopic vision to see him from across the floor. Beads of sweat lined his forehead. His body trembled lightly. Chills.  
I brought my glasses back up to cover my eyes and walked over to Ben’s desk. “Ben?”  
He looked up. “Oh, hi Kara.” His voice was hoarse. Suddenly, he let out a loud, raspy cough.  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “What are you doing here?”  
“Working.”  
“But you’re sick!” I replied, “you should be resting.”  
“Thanks for looking out for me,” Ben said, “but trust me, I’m good.” He let out another cough. “Besides, my case isn’t as bad as my friends.”  
I frowned. “That doesn’t matter. You’re clearly sick.” I sighed. “I really think you should rest.”  
Ben’s coughing started to grow worse.  
“I do wish I could help,” I said, “but….”  
Suddenly, an office door swung open. Cat strutted out before stopping suddenly. She wore a small cringe on her face. “Oh my God.” She sighed. “Where the hell is everyone?” she asked, raising her voice.  
I turned my head to look at her. “Um...sick?”  
Cat exhaled through her nose and rubbed her fingers against her temple. “Why is it whenever we have a story that can make or break us, everyone just disappears? First, it’s when Superman fought Doomsday. Then, it was when Lex Luthor turned the sun red. And now, it’s this.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Miss Grant…”  
She glared at me. “I really don’t need your input right now, Kiera.”  
“But your employees are sick,” I replied, “don’t you care about their well-being?”  
“Well, I care about my story’s well-being, and it’s not going to get written itself.” Cat scoffed. “It’s literally just the equivalent of the flu. They’re just over-reacting.”  
Suddenly, there was a thud. I looked over to see Ben on the floor. He had collapsed from his chair. My eyes widened at this. People rushed around him. The area were Cat and I were seemed to get smaller and smaller with the female employees rushing toward where the three of us were.  
I frowned. “Excuse me.” I left the room before flying through the window as Supergirl a few moments later. “I heard panicking.”  
“He collapsed!” one of the female employees explained.  
I looked down at Ben. He was still unconscious. I picked him up.”  
“And just where are you going with him, Supergirl?” Cat questioned.  
I looked at her. “To a hospital.” With that, I flew off.

I flew Ben into the National City Hospital and to the reception. “I need a room. It’s urgent!” I called out.  
The redhaired receptionist looked at me through her red-rimmed glasses. “Supergirl…” She sighed and bit her lip. “We...we’re not vacant.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “What?”  
“We don’t have any space. All the rooms are taken up by Pallidus Homo disease patients.” She frowned. “I’m sorry.”  
My heart sunk. I used my x-ray vision into her chest. Her heart pumped at a normal pace. I took in a deep breath. She was right. With that, I flew out of the hospital. Is this what the disease had evolved to?   
After two more hospitals, I was able to admit Ben into a hospital on the outskirts of National City. I sighed as I flew off. I’m sorry, Ben. I’m sorry this had to happen to you. I hope you recover. Soon, another thought crossed my mind: if we didn’t find who the culprit was now, it could be too late.

“Where were you, Kiera?” Cat asked men when I came back in my civilian clothes.  
“I felt nauseous,” I answered.  
She rolled her eyes. “Oh God, you too?”  
I shook my head. “No, not like that. I...I was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic.” Well, partially.  
Cat sighed. “What happened to Kara Danvers being the Supergirl specialist?”  
“She was here?”  
“Get back to your desk,” she said, “you’ve already lost fifteen minutes from your break.”  
I nodded and walked over to my desk. I went onto my desktop computer, only to see a new story on the front page of CatCo’s website. “Pallidus Homo Disease Causes International Disorder”, the headline read. I kept on reading. “It has been one month since the Pallidus Homo disease’s epidemic erupted in the United States. With 119 cases in Canada, 250 in Mexico, 130 in the United Kingdom, and 2,354 cases in China, it is clear that the disease has created havoc far outside of the States. The CDC and the World Health Organization have confirmed that this sickness has grown to be an international epidemic, with more regions expected to become susceptible.”  
My stomach turned over, before clicking out of the website. I buried my face into my hands. Was it already too late? I sighed. No...no one hadn’t died from it yet, as scary as the reactions to the disease may have been. I took in a few deep breaths before getting back to work.

It was nearly dark out by the time my shift ended. Suddenly, I could hear something from downtown National City. It sounded like car alarms going off. My eyes widened. I quickly ran before shedding my clothes off and going back into Supergirl yet again.  
I flew in to see a tall woman with reddish-orange hair in a green bodysuit and a dark green mask. She had a green shoulderpad with small spikes pointing out of it. She was tall and toned.  
I put my fists up. “I thought Amazons fought to bring peace, not to wreck it.”  
She turned to me. Her teeth gritted together before she rammed me down. A smirk appeared on her face. “Never heard of Apokolips then, huh?”  
I stood back up. “You mean the planet that’s built on power and corruption?” I swung my fist at her, only for her to grab it.  
She smirked at me. “True, but damn, did they make warriors out of us.” She threw me to the ground with her super-strength. “They gave us names, too.” She punched me in the chest, knocking the wind out of me. “Mine is Knockout, which is what I’m about to do to you, Supergirl.”  
I gritted my teeth and used my heat-vision at her, but Knockout only smirked at me. “Is that the best you got?” She slammed her fist into my temple.  
I gritted my teeth as I panted heavily. My gaze looked up to see Mon-El fly in with his red Valor suit and dark blue cape. I smiled lightly at this. “Valor?”  
He swung a punch at Knockout’s face, stumbling her. “I’m not keen on hitting women, but this one was an exception.”He looked over to me and extended a hand as he smiled at me.  
I took his as he helped me up. I couldn’t help but smile back. “Thanks.”  
“I heard there was a bit of commotion going on.”  
“You came at the right time. It’s not everyday I get the chance to fight an ex-warrior from Apokolips.” Suddenly, I felt butterflies in my stomach.   
Knockout stood back up. A smirk raced across her face. “I didn’t know it was Couples’ Night.”  
I rose an eyebrow. “Couples’ Night?” I asked, “but we’re not even da--”  
Suddenly, a woman with olive skin appeared. Her brunette hair was in a short bob. On her hands, she wore silver lamentation blades. On her forearm, she had a distinct black tattoo. She smirked. “If it isn’t the weaker of the Kryptonians.” Her voice had a slight Brazilian accent.  
My eyes widened slightly at that. “Didn’t know Vandal Savage’s daughter got with a Fury.”  
Scandal glared at me before charging at me. I caught her wrist in my hand, keeping the blade only inches from my eye. I turned to Valor. “You take Knockout. I’ve got Scandal.”  
“Aww, can someone not handle a Fury?” Knockout asked. Her voice had a tunting tone to it.  
Valor punched her in the chest. “It’s none of your business what Supergirl can’t handle.”  
Knockout lunged at him.  
I threw a punch at Scandal’s jaw. She threw a high-kick at me, but I grabbed her ankle and threw her to the ground. She looked up at me, her brown eyes glaring at me. She growled before she charged at me. I used my heat-vision on her, but she blocked it with her blades and kept running at me. I flew up, causing her to miss me.  
Scandal glared at me. “Get back down here, Kryptonian!” she shouted.  
I shrugged. “Okay.” I used arctic breath as I came back down.   
Scandal’s legs froze in place. She growled at me. “Arrgh! You blonde bitch!”  
I punched the ice block away, causing her to fall down. I jammed my fists into her temple five times before slicing her down the chest with my heat-vision. Scandal groaned. I smirked. “And yet, I hear you’re supposed to be the daughter of Savage himself.” I panted a bit before I looked over to Valor. “You get Knockout?”  
He punched her chest right before she fell over. He panted as he looked at me. “I think so.” He looked down at Knockout. “I’m not somebody to hit girls, you know. This one, was an exception.”  
I smirked and I deeply exhaled through my nose. “You know, we make a pretty good team.”  
Valor smiled lightly. “Couldn’t agree more.”  
I could feel my smirk turn into a soft smile. My heart fluttered at that. I couldn’t help but look into ocean-blue eyes.  
Suddenly, there was a beeping. The comm was connected to my suit. I answered. “What’s up, Batgirl?”  
“Kara, you and Mon-El need to head to the Batcave,” Barbara/Batgirl said through the comm, “it’s urgent.”


	26. Batgirl

One hour before…

I led Cisco, Helena, Nia, and Jesse toward the cells in the Batcave,  
“So you guys got Killer Frost, huh?” Helena asked. She had her crossbow in her hands.  
“She tried to start a snowstorm in Fawcett City fron what I heard,” I said, “quite the sight.”  
Jesse chuckled behind me. “Okay, I’d be lying if I said that ice powers weren’t cool.” There was a slight pause. “No pun intended.”  
After a few moments, we arrived at the cell. Caitlin was on the top bunk of the cell, with Harley on the bottom. She looked at us. “How much longer am I going to be here?”  
“Shouldn’t be too long,” Cisco assured her.  
Harley smirked at him. “Hey, Vibe Boy!” She got up and held on the bars of the cell.  
He rolled his eyes.  
“I noticed ya don’t got yer goggles of yours.”  
“We’re off-duty.”  
Harley smirked. “Off-duty, huh?” She stuck her hand between the bars, only for Cisco to flinch. She pouted at that. “Aww, c’mon.”  
“Not interested.”  
Harley widened her eyes as she kept her pout. “Yer no fair.”  
Jesse turned to her. “Hey, why don’t we leave our Vibe-friend alone?”  
Harley pouted.  
I sighed and looked at Caitlin.  
“I didn’t mean to cause collateral damage like that,” Caitlin said.  
“I know,” Cisco assured her.  
“I know you do,” she replied, “and thank you, but I need the others to believe me as well.”  
“We’re gonna help you, Caity.”  
I pursed my lips together. Caity. He had a nickname for her. How long had he had that nickname for her? “How did Killer Frost come to be?”  
She furrowed her eyebrows. “I’m sorry?”  
“Metahumans don’t just appear out of nowhere,” I replied, “right?”  
Caitlin gave me a small nod. “That’s true.”  
“So how did Killer Frost manifest herself?”  
She sighed.  
Suddenly, there was a pit in my stomach. A wave of guilt. “You...you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I think I may have been a bit too forward.”  
“It’s okay,” Caitlin said, “I don’t mind.” She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. “When I was ten, my dad was diagnosed with ALS, which is genetic. He and my mom, they were both scientists, so my dad turned to cyrogenic therapies in order to prevent the chance of it ever happening to me. It worked, but…” She opened one of her hands. Dry ice escaped from her palm.  
“It made you Killer Frost,” I replied.  
She nodded. “Yeah.” She let out a sigh. “Yeah, it did.”  
Harley let out a small chuckle. “Sounds like Caity’s got the textbook case of what we call ‘daddy issues’.”  
Caitlin transformed quickly into Killer Frost. She conjured a dagger made of ice and put it against Harley’s throat. “You wanna play with me, clown?”  
Harley’s eyes widened. “Ooh!” She grinnned. “What’re we gonna play? Twista? Jenga?” She gasped. “We gonna play Truth or Dare?”  
Killer Frost scoffed. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t freeze you to death right here, right now.”  
I looked to Nia. She squeezed her eyes shut as she rubbed her fingers against her temple. “You okay, Nia?”  
“Yeah…” she murmured, “bad headache.”  
I frowned before looking back at them. Quickly, Helena pulled out her crossbow and pointed it at Killer Frost’s forehead. “Don’t even think about it.”  
“What the hell, Helena?!” Cisco shouted. He tried to push the crossbow away, but she only shoved him to the ground.  
I went over to Cisco and helped him up.  
Killer Frost scoffed. “You really think you’re gonna pull the trigger?”  
“As long as you and Harley are behind these bars,” Helena said, “as long as you two are in our custody, you two are our bitches.”  
Killer Frost’s eyes widened. Her eyebrows shot up. “I’m your bitch?”  
“As long as you two are in this cell, yeah.”  
Suddenly, Jesse phased through the bars and into the cell, between Harley, Helena and Killer Frost. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” She took in a deep breath. “Everybody, chill.”  
Killer Frost glared at Jesse and raised an eyebrow.  
“No pun intended, Frost.”  
Killer Frost rolled her eyes.  
“Helena, stop!” Cisco said, “it’s not Caitlin’s fault.”  
Helena scoffed. “It’s not her fault.” She turned her head to Cisco. “If it wasn’t her fault, I don’t think she would’ve started that snowstorm in Fawcett City, huh?” A smirk appeared on her face. “The collateral damage would like to say otherwise.”  
“What if Cisco’s right?” Jesse asked.  
Helena looked back at her. “What?”  
“Caitlin and Killer Frost share a body,” Jesse replied, “but even though Killer Frost did the damage, Caitlin shouldn’t have to be punished for it.”  
“A criminal’s a criminal.”  
There was a small frown on my face. My stomach turned slightly. I looked at Helena, then at Jesse.  
After a few more seconds, Helena smirked and put the crossbow away. “Yeah, you two aren’t gonna do shit.” She glared at them before walking from the cell.  
I looked back at Killer Frost.  
“What’s her problem?” she asked.  
I shrugged. “Who knows? To be honest, she’s always been, well...kind of…”  
“A bitch?” she replied. She wore a small smirk on her face.  
“I mean…”  
“What else could describe her?”  
I felt a pang in my stomach. “Ye...yeah. Kinda.”  
“No ‘kinda’ bitchy, it’s ‘definitely’ bitchy.”  
“Well, no matter what Huntress does,” Cisco said, “you and Caity are gonna be fine.”  
There was that word again. Caity. I shuddered slightly at that.  
Suddenly, Killer Frost started to snicker. Cisco’s eyebrows furrowed at this. Soon, Killer Frost’s snickering evolved into laughter.  
“What’s so funny?” Jesse asked, a confused lilt ringing from her voice.  
“You ‘good guys’ don’t get it,” she answered, “you never will. This isn’t anything new to people like me and Harley.”  
Harley grinned. “Hey, that’s me!”  
Killer Frost sighed. “Long story short: along the way, we fucked up somehow, and no matter how we try to reform, we will always be known as bad.”  
“But wait,” Harley said, “didn’t you purposely set up the snowstorm in Fawcett City?”  
“I did, but Caitlin didn’t. And when I get punished for it, the good girl Caitlin gets punished, too.”  
“Then why do you do it?” I asked.  
Killer Frost smirked. “Revenge on the people who wronged me. I had a bully who lives in Fawcett, so...I convinced Caitlin to let me out.”  
“I know that feeling, too, you know,” Jesse said.  
Killer Forst scoffed lightly. “Like you good guys would know what I mean.”  
“I mean with the power,” Jesse added, “the Speedforce can be so...intoxicating for speedsters like me. And sometimes, when we use it, it hurts others. Sometimes on accident, sometimes on purpose. The end result makes us look irresponsible. But we learn how to harness our speed for good, not abuse it.” She sighed. “We still carry around the label of ‘irresponsible’...mainly by the Justice League, but we still try to be better than we were the day before.”  
Killer Frost had a frown on her face. “You sound like Supergirl when you say that. All you need to say now is that you stand for ‘hope, help, and compassion for all’.” She rolled her bluish-white eyes at that. “It’s ingenuine.”  
Jesse frowned back.  
Suddenly, there was a sharp gasp. My head snapped to the side. Nia collapsed on the ground. “Oh my God!” I quickly kneeled to the ground. “Nia?” I shook her, but she didn’t wake up. “Nia!” I shoke her again, but she still didn’t respond. “Oh my God.” I quickly turned on my comm and rushed over to the main computer monitors in the Batcave. Supergirl and Valor were active. I took in a shaky deep breath as I connected my comm to Supergirl’s.  
Thankfully, she answered just about right away. “What’s up, Batgirl?” Kara/Supergirl asked.  
“Kara, you and Mon-El need to head to the Batcave,” I said into the comm, “it’s urgent.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the late update. I am in my second semester as a freshman in college and during that week, we had midterms, especially since one of my classes is a bit harder than I anticipated going into the semester, so I had that to worry about as well. I hope you all understand and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.  
\- Amethyst Jewels


	27. Wonder Woman

One hour after…

The Batcave was filled up. The news about Nia’s collapse spread throughout the team like wildfire once Barbara told Kara and Mon-El. The whole team gathered in the Batcave’s cortex while Caitlin treated Nia in the medbay. Barbara sat at the Batcave’s main computer system.  
“So, Dreamer came down with the disease, too?” Mary asked. She stood in front of me in her Mary Marvel outfit, clearly having grown into her shazamed body.  
“Wouldn’t be surprised,” Courtney replied, “no healthy person just faints like that.”  
“You may be right, Courtney,” I answered, “but until we get a full diagnosis from Caitlin, we won’t know for sure.”  
Kara sighed and put her hands at her hips. “How would it be possible?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“The disease has only affected guys,” she said, “But Nia...she’s a girl.”  
I looked over at Mon-El. He scratched the back of his neck.  
“The disease could have evolved,” Jessica said.  
“Maybe,” I replied, “considering she hasn’t been showing any other symptoms besides her collapse.”  
Barbara looked back at us from the computer. “Hey, so I found something on Dreamer.”  
I went over to the large monitors. The other followed. “What did you find?”  
“She had her legal name changed to Nia Nal on her 18th birthday. Medical records state a history of narcolepsy and undergoing a handful of gender-reassignment surgeries and estrogen therapies before mysteriously disappearing for two years, and not coming back until just a few months ago.”  
“So, Nia…” Kara muttered.  
“Is transgender,” Barbara confirmed, “yet unlike male bodies, she’s not showing any of the symptoms. Either because she’s transgender she expresses the disease differently, or she’s asymptomatic for the same reason.”  
“Well, this is new,” Courtney muttered, “never heard of a transgender super before.”  
Kate slammed her elbow into Courtney’s side.  
Courtney winced. “Ow!”  
“Cut the snark, and you won’t have to worry about it again.”  
“Wait, what if I tried to vibe into Nia’s head?” Cisco suggested, “that way I can figure out what happened to her.”  
Courtney raised an eyebrow. “You can do that?”  
“Yeah,” Mary chimed in, “I thought you could only make breaches and like, blast people.”  
Cisco smirked. “That’s just the baseline of the things I can do.”  
I looked over at Barbara. She frowned at him. “Vibe, I don’t know if that’s the way to go about this.”  
“Why not?”  
“If Dreamer...if Nia’s actually sick,” Barbara said, “who knows if you could contract the disease or not.”  
“Barbara has a point,” I said, “we don’t know what could happen if you did so. The last thing this team needs is to lose another member.”  
Cisco sighed.  
“Maybe I could try to use a bit of magic to get her out,” Zatanna suggested, “they don’t call me the ‘Mistress of Magic’ for nothing.”  
I shook my head. “I can’t have anyone tampering with this. Something like this could easily backfire if we involve magic with it.”  
Zatanna shrugged. “Worth bringing up.”  
Kate looked over at me. “Considering how Nia was born a male,” she added, “we have no idea if or when she will come down with it.”  
Mari walked over to her.“Do you believe that she might, Kate?”  
She sighed. “I don’t know. I only know as much as everyone else in this room.”  
“Not until she shows symptoms,” I replied.  
“And what if she’s asymptomatic?” Dinah asked me.  
I sighed. “I don’t know, Dinah. I don’t know.”  
Suddenly, there were footsteps. I looked over to see Caitlin come out of the Batcave’s medbay and towards us. Her auburn waves bounced slightly on her chest.  
Kara flew over beside me and in front of Caitlin. “Is Nia okay?”  
“She’s stable,” she assured us.  
Kara let out a sigh of relief. “Thank Rao!”  
“Did you run any tests?” I asked.  
Caitlin nodded. “The results of the blood tests came back negative.”  
“How many tests did you run?”  
“Three.”  
“How accurate?”   
“Roughly ninety-nine percent.”  
I sighed. “Damn.”  
“Then what do we do now?” Courtney asked.  
I looked at her. “What do you mean?”  
“The Joker’s not behind it and we lost a team member,” she clarified, “where do we go now?”  
Before I got the chance to open my mouth to speak, there was a sharp, sudden gasp.  
Kara’s eyes widened. “Nia!” She flew into the medbay.  
We followed after Kara.   
Nia was sitting up on the bed when we came in. Her brown eyes looked over at us.  
“Oh, thank Rao you’re okay!” Kara said as she hugged her.  
Nia gave her a small smile. “Thank you, Kara. That means a lot.”  
“Are you okay?” I asked.  
Nia faced me. “Oh, yeah I’m good.”  
“You collapsed outside of the cells.”  
She sighed before hanging her head. “Yeah...that’s not a moment I’m proud of.” She bit her lip. “I...I think my powers kicked in.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “What do you mean?”  
“One of the powers I have is to dream the future,” Nia explained, “it’s not something that’s voluntary, and for a period of time, I thought I suffered from narcolepsy. But I guess out of my sister and I, I was able to get the gift.”  
“The gift?” Kate asked.  
“I’m from the planet Naltor,” Nia explained, “and the first female born of each generation is given the ability to dream the future.”  
“But you’re trans!” Courtney replied.  
I heard Kate slam her elbow into Courtney’s chest.  
“Ow!”  
“Thought I told you to cut it!”  
I sighed. “I apologize for that.”  
Nia shook her head. “It’s alright. If anything, like her, I didn’t believe it, either, so I understand her confusion.”  
There was a slight pause.  
“What was your dream, Nia?”  
“Well, it’s a bit lengthy, but I’ll make it quick.” She took a deep breath. “There were a few of us. There’s a skull-shaped ship. Inside, there was a green alien with pinkish plugs in his head. Metallic tentacles came out from his back. He has cities in bottles: Metropolis, Gotham, Central, National and so many more. He has a formula that, according to him, makes the ‘strong gender’ weak, and the ‘weak gender’ forced to submit.”  
“Wait,” Kara said, “what...what was his name.”  
Nia turned to her. “He said his name was Brainiac.”  
Kara’s eyes widened at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so as some of you know, I am going on a bit of a break, most likely a week, MAYBE two, but nothing longer than that. I am a freshman in college and they just shut down. While part of it was on my spring break, this is not how I wanted it at all. Because of this, I have been dealing with moderate stress and sadness. Change is very difficult for me. Like, it is legit my Everest. I know it sucks considering that just about EVERYTHING is shutting down their production, but it's hard for me to write if I am in a bad mindset. But let me say this: JLF (Justice League Femme) is NOWHERE near over. Considering my plans for this, I feel that this is only the beginning, and I can't wait to take you all on that ride.  
Thank you to everyone who has been reading. It truly means a lot to me. Just remember: this is NOT over.


	28. Supergirl

My eyes were wide at this. I could feel my body shaking. No, this could be happening. First, it was Krypton. Now, it was Earth? Images flashed through my mind. I could hear the screams of the children back on Krypton as Brainiac’s ship hovered high above the city. I blinked a couple times before I backed off a bit. I shook my head slightly. “I...I can’t.” I ran out of the medbay.  
“Kara!” Mon-El called out.  
I didn’t stop running out. I jumped up, flying out the Batcave.

The cold air embraced me up here. I turned my back to the sun and absorbed its energy. They say that sound can’t be heard in the vacuum of space. From what Kal has told me before, though, it’s silent for anyone but a Kryptonian. But it was quieter, quieter than anywhere back on Earth. For once, my mind isn’t clouded by all this insanity.  
Suddenly, there was a woosh. My eyes widened and turned around. Behind me, Mon-El flew up. “Quite the exit you made back there.”  
“You followed me?”  
He sighed. “I needed to make sure you were okay.”  
I gave him a half-smile. “Thanks, I guess, but I’m...I’m okay.”  
Mon-El pursed his lips together. “Plus, I know what this is like.”  
“You know what having the entire world on your shoulders like?” I asked.  
“I know what it’s like,” Mon-El replied, “the Legion of Super-Heroes expereince that crap a lot.”  
I shrugged. “I guess.” I sighed, then shook my head. “No, this is different.”  
“Because it impacts the future, too?”  
“I wish that was the only reason.” I sighed. “I...I kind of have history with Brainiac.”  
There was a small pause.  
“Your cousin fought him a few times, right?”  
“Once that I know of,” I answered, “yeah.” I sighed again. “But it’s a bit more than that.”  
Mon-El furrowed. his eyebrows. “How so?”  
I cleared my throat. “Before Krypton was destroyed, he tried to collect the cities, specifically Kandor.”  
“Collect cities?” He furrowed his eyebrows more. “Even if he’s an alien like you and me, that should literally be impossible.” He paused for a second, as if to reconsider. “Right?”  
“He found a way to incapacitate Krypton enough to shrink the planet with as little resistance as possible,” I explained, “once he got to Argo City, the Kryptoniansfought back their hardest, but they still lost.” I sighed as I felt tears spring to my eyes. I closed them, hoping to hold them back. “As Brainiac tried to collect the rest of Krypton, it backfired.”  
“It backfired?”  
“Years before, there was a long war. It led to so much death and destruction. From that destruction, extremists sprouted who believed that Kryptonians had wrecked the planet so badly that there was no point to fix it, so they tried to destroy the core by beaming highly-concentrated radiation from a machine called the Destroyer straight into it. And for a while, it did nothing. Then, people started dying of what we called ‘The Green Death’.”  
“Kryptonite poisoning?”  
I shrugged. “Probably.” I sighed again. “Scientists like my father and my uncle tried to find what was going on. My uncle concluded that our core was unstable now. Then, Brainiac came. After he shrunk and bottled Kandor, he went after the other cities, agitaing the planet’s already unstabe core. Then, it exploded.” I took in as much of a deep breath as I could, as my breathing got shallow. “My father and my uncle knew what would happen,” I added, my voice quivering, “so they prepared to send us off behind my back.” A tear spilled out of one of my eyes. “I was only told that Krypton was destoryed because of the first half for a long time until Kal brought up the possibility after he did some digging about Krypton’s history. I had no idea that Brainiac had been behind the destruction of Krypton for a long time.”  
“So Brainiac helped destroy Krypton, didn’t he?” Mon-El asked. His eyes were wide with a sad air to them.  
“As well as any other planets nearby from the debris.”  
His eyes widened slightly. A frown appeaed on his face. “The debris of Brainiac’s mess…”  
I nodded. “It destroyed the Daxamites’ home planet, Daxam, too.” I looked over at Mon-El, who also had tears in his eyes.   
He flew over and hugged me tightly. I felt my face grow hot. My eyes widened at this as my heart skipped a beat. “I know,” I replied, “it hurts me, too.”  
After a few moments, I heard a small chuckle. I furrowed my eyebrows as he pulled away.  
“I heard that skip,” Mon-El said.  
“What?”  
“Your heart skipped a beat.”  
I felt myself blush harder. “It did?”  
Mon-El chuckled again.  
I felt my face get even warmer.  
“I’m not gonna judge you, Kara,” he reassured me, “if it makes you feel any better, my heart was probably gonna skip, too, once you hugged me back. You just beat me to it.”  
I smiled back at him. Suddenly, I could hear another heartbeat. My eyes widened at that.  
Mon-El furrowed his eyebrows. “Everything okay, Kara?”  
“Lee,” I said, “I...I heard their heartbeat. I need to make sure they’re okay.” With that, I started flying back toward Earth.  
Mon-El followed me. “Who’s Lee?”  
“One of my closest friends.”  
“Is he super-powered like you or me?”  
“They’re actually non-binary,” I answered, “but no, I just go to school with them.”  
“School?”  
“I’m a junior in high school,” I anwered, “we both are.”  
He chuckled. “I’m so used to seeing you as Supergirl. I wonder what civilian Kara is like. Almost forgot you had a secret identity.”  
I chuckled. “Kara Danvers.”  
“Kara Danvers,” he repeated softly.  
“You’re gonna need a secret identity soon, too.”

Back on Earth, Lee’s heartbeat only sounded louder. I listened closely to this before flying west. It was only a few moments before I got to the rooftop of City Hall in National City. A frown formed on my face at the sight. No one was there.  
Mon-El flew in behind me. “Why did we fly here?”  
“Lee and I usually meet up here,” I said, “well, usually when I’m Supergirl.”  
“What about as Kara?”  
“Only at school,” I replied, “they don’t know my secret identity.”  
“Why not?” he asked, “you clearly trust him a lot.”  
I sighed. “Supergirl helped him be able to give him hope when no one else in his life did.”  
“Because they’re non-binary?”  
I nodded. “What happened was, a year ago, my reputation was under fire.”  
Mon-El furrowed his eyebrows. “So, you used him?”  
“What?” I replied, “no.” I shook my head. “No, what happened was during that time, there was an attack from these weird cyborg robot thingys downtown.”  
Mon-El chuckled. “Weird cyborg robot thingys.”  
“Lee was in the crossfire when I came in to stop what was going on,” I continued, “When I told them that they needed to go home, I caught something in how they responded that suggested something wasn’t right. So before I flew off, I told them that I would be around if they needed me. The next day, I found them by the cove to talk it out and that’s how I learned their name, that they’re non-binary, and what was going on. I befriended him as Kara shortly after. I just intervened when he was being bullied by some serial bullies, hell, one I’ve even faced as Kara.” I paused for a second. “And from there, I...I kinda led the double-life. Kara was the down-to-Earth friend, but Supergirl was the friend that gave them hope again, and when they were bullied outside of school, the bullies were immediately shut down just by seeing me just about.”  
“And that fixed your reputation?” Mon-El asked.  
“Lee did an exclusive for CatCo for me,” I clarified, “I didn’t ask them to do anything for me, and all of a sudden, people loved Supergirl again.”  
“And for Kara?”  
“I was the human best friend. I was the shoulder that was there if they needed to cry, the friend to listen to vent to, the person who was there for Lee the best she could.”  
Mon-El smirked lightly.  
I furrowed my eyebrows at this. “What?”  
“Sounds like Kara Danvers herself isn’t so far off from Supergirl after all.”  
I sighed. “Maybe.” Suddenly, the heartbeat picked up again. I turned my head to the left to listen more closely. “Speaking of Lee.” With that, I flew off.

On the outskirts of National City, I flew over a small, blue house. The heartbeat was incredibly loud. Lee was here.   
“This is where they are?” Mon-El asked.  
“I’m certain.” I flew over to the window and knocked on the glass.  
After a moment, Lee came over to the window. His usual olive skin was slightly more pale than usual. They lifted it up. A smile appeared on their face. “Supergirl?”  
“Hi Lee.”  
Lee blinked a couple of times. “How did you find me?”  
I chuckled. “Still have the super-hearing, remember?” There was a small pause. “Are you okay? You look kinda pale.”  
“Oh...yeah.” Lee looked over at Mon-El. “And he is…?”  
I looked back. “Oh, this is--”  
“Valor,” Mon-El replied, “from the Legion of the Super-Heroes.”  
Lee knitted their eyebrows. “The what?”  
“From the future, basically,” Valor replied.  
Lee’s brown eyes lit up at that. “Whoa! For real?”  
“Yeah, what’s going on is why I came back to the present.”  
“The other heroes and I found out that an alien named Brainiac created the sickness,” I explained.  
“The Pale Man Disease?”  
Valor nodded.  
“And since Brainiac is an alien, the other heroes and I may have to leave Earth for some time,” I added.  
“But you’ll be back,” they replied, “right?”  
“Of course I’d be back, Lee. You’re one of the best friends I have. I can’t just leave you behind.”  
A small smile drew on Lee’s face. Suddenly, Lee’s eyes squeezed shut. They covered their mouth with their elbow before they let out a raspy cough.  
My eyes widened slightly. “Are you okay?”  
They cleared their throat. “Uh, yeah.”  
“Are you sure?” Valor asked.  
I used my x-ray vision on Lee’s chest. I looked closely. “Nothing too out of the normal.” I squinted a bit more, enhancing my microscopic vision with my x-ray vision. “They look kinda iritated, though.”  
Lee sighed. “I was afraid you’d notice.”  
“What do you mean?” Valor asked.  
Lee shrugged. “My family thinks that I might be sick with it. I’m actually kinda in quarantine because of it. Even worse, my dad’s sick with it, too, and his case is way worse than mine.”  
My eyes widened at this. “Wh...what?” I shook my head. “No, but the disease shouldn’t be affecting non-binary people.”  
Lee raised an eyebrow. “What?”  
“It only affects guys,” I explained, “that’s what Brainiac is after. He’s after the guys, not you guys.”  
Lee sighed. “Supergirl...I don’t think that’s how it works. My gender expression is non-binary, but…”  
“All the cases we’ve found were men,” I replied, “not...not--”  
“Biologically male,” Lee said, “no matter how I express myself, no matter what my pronouns are, no matter what surgeries I get in the future, I still would have been born a male.”  
My eyes teared up. First hearing my old home was destroyed by an egotistical, selfish alien. Now, this same asshole is trearing my new home and new life to shreds. I looked at Lee with the tears in my eyes and put my hands on their shoulders. “Lee Serrano, I am going to do everything in my power to get you and your dad back to normal.”  
“Supergirl,” Lee replied, “I appreciate this, and you’re like one of my best friends, but...you’re no doctor.”  
I nodded. “I know. But I’m going to make this better for you, for everyone. And once the other heroes and I find Brainiac and defeat him, you guys will be healthy again. You won’t be a part of that statistic.”  
“Supergirl.”  
Not even thinking, I hugged Lee. I didn’t even care if our prediction on its selective nature was wrong. I felt him slowly hug him back. “I am going to do everything in my power to make this better. It’s the least I can do for you.”  
“You really think it’ll work?” Lee asked as he pulled away.  
“I don’t think,” I replied, “I know.”

The air was cool as Mon-El and I flew. Lee promised he’d take care of himself while we were gone before we left. I kept my eyes straight-forward.   
“I’m sorry about your friend,” Mon-El said. His voice had a heavy tone to it.  
I shook my head slightly. “We need to find Brainiac,” I replied, “no bullcrapping around it this time because we don’t have much of it. We don’t have any excuses anymore.”  
There was a small silence.  
“What would we do after we found Brainiac?” Mon-El asked.  
Another small silence.  
“We defeat him,” I answered, “once and for all. Whatever it takes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for being patient on this chapter. I know with the pandemic things have been crazy for all of us. I have grown used to the online learning and situation, so hopefully, I can get back onto updating more frequently. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
> 
> \- Amethyst Jewels


	29. Batgirl

I sighed as Kara and Mon-El flew off. I turned to face Diana. “Well, what do we do now?”  
“Well, unlike Superman, I have never fought Brainiac before.”  
Courtney furrowed her eyebrows through her mask. “Wait, I thought you did, though? Or am I thinking of Darkseid?”  
“Fighting Darkseid was a lifetime ago,” Diana replied, “but all I know is that Brainiac is nothing like Darkseid.”  
Courtney looked up for a second. Her mouth opened slightly. “Yeah...I think that was Darkseid.” She chuckled. “My bestie would know more about it than me.”  
Kate raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you’re actually tolerable enough to have a best friend?”  
Courtney turned to her. “And you’re so much of a buzzkill to not believe me?”  
Dinah covered her face with her hand. “Guys, c’mon.”  
I looked back at Diana. “Well, it’d be nice if someone stayed another ten minutes or so to help us with this.”  
Diana walked over toward me. Her stance towered over me as she put her hand on my shoulder. “I understand your stress, Barbara. But I understand why Kara is upset, too.”  
I pursed my lips. I remember watching Kara tremble before flying off. “Do you know of any reason why that could’ve been?”  
Diana shook her head. “The only thing I can think of is that Superman fought Brainiac once. That being said, we must be tolerable with her about this. We don’t know why she was triggered by Brainiac.”  
Helena looked over at Nia. “You said that Brainiac has like his own ship, right?”  
“Yeah,” Nia replied, “a skull-shaped one.”  
Helena smirked at that. “Do you know where you saw it?”  
Nia shook her head. “I was honestly too stunned to get a good look.”  
Helena scowled now. “Nice one, Dreamer.”  
“Hey,” Nia replied, “I was still train--I mean, I’m still new to this.”  
Helena rolled her eyes. “I was going to say that if you knew, we could have Jesse and Jessica on that.”  
“Jesse and Jessica?” I asked.  
“What? A speedster and a Green Lantern can’t find its location?”  
“We could still do it now,” I said, “with their combined flight and speed, they’d probably find Brainiac’s ship no problem.”  
Caitlin bit her lower lip. “Is that a good idea? We already don’t have two of us here.”  
Helena glared at her.  
“I think Caity’s got a point,” Cisco replied.  
I turned to face him.  
“Yeah right,” Helena shot back, “like we can trust a supervillain.” She gripped onto her crossbow tighter.  
Cisco glared at her. “Yeah, well, can you trust a doctor? Because she is one.”  
She almost laughed, as if she was trying to hold it back. “A doctor of what? Criminology?”  
“Bio-engineering, smartass.”  
My eyes widened at this. I had never heard that tone from him before.  
Helena smirked. “Huh, I guess you and Quinn aren’t brainless villains after all.”  
“So maybe listen to me,” Caitlin growled.  
Helena put up her crossbow, pointed right at Caitlin’s chest.  
“Whoa!” Cisco placed his hands up.  
“You lost my respect the second you went rouge, bitch!” Helena growled back at Caitlin.  
Caitlin’s white skin darkened into a light-blue tint. Her auburn hair morphed into a snow-white. Her eyes became bluish-white. “And you lost my respect when you pointed that crossbow at me,” she said, “bitch.”  
Jesse shook her head. She walked over, putting a hand on Helena’s shoulder. “C’mon, Hel. You and I both know this isn’t the way to go.”  
She quickly shrugged Jesse’s hand off and shoved her back. “This isn’t your shit.”  
Killer Frost’s eyes widened. “And you say I’m the bad guy.” Dry ice escaped her palms.  
My eyes darted to Helena. She glared at Killer Frost as she kept her corssbow fixed at her. My eyes widened as I felt my heart race. “Helena, no!”  
Suddenly, I felt it all in slow-motion. She pulled the trigger on her crossbow, sending an arrow flying toward. Cisco was putting his hand up, about to form a breach. Before he even could, a blur intercepted the arrow’s path. Right then, it felt as if everything sped up so quickly, as if to make up for lost time.  
“Holy shit.” I panted slightly, like a sigh of relief.  
Jesse glared at Helena, her hand clutching the arrow hard. If she put any more tension on it, it’d probably snap in half. “Don’t shove me away like that again.” She looked back at Killer Frost, whose jaw dropped, before back at Helena. “And anyone on our team, Harley, Killer Frost, whoever, they have just as much say as you or me,” she said, “and if you try to make that decision again and think you canget away with it, trust me, you’ll get an outcome you don’t want.”  
Helena scowled as she lowered her crossbow.  
I looked back at Cisco and Killer Frost. “Are you guys okay?”  
Killer Frost’s light-blue tint receded into Caitlin’s peach-colored skin. Auburn locks replaced the white ones. Her bluish-white eyes faded into their original hazel color. Caitlin nodded. “Yeah, I...I think so.” She took in a deep breath. “Didn’t think I’d be saved by a speedster again for quite some time.”  
I looked at Cisco. “You okay, too?”  
He nodded. “I am.” His smile was small, slightly coy.  
I smiled lightly at that. I turned my head to see Jesse come over. “Thank you for preventing chaos.”  
“Of course,” Jesse replied, “we’re a team. A team is supposed to have each others’ backs.”  
I looked past Jesse’s shoulder. Diana was talking to Helena, most likely about the stunt she tried to pull a few minutes ago.  
“What’s Helena’s punishment?” I asked.  
“Punishment?” Jesse turned her head to see them. “Oh, I don’t think Diana’s gonna do that.”  
“You don’t?”  
Jesse shook her head. “I think I already gave her one.”  
“Back when Helena, Dinah, and I were in our Birds of Prey group, they second any one of us stepped out of line, we got called out for it.”  
“Diana’s just gonna give her the ‘I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed’ talk,” Jesse replied, “which is already brutal enough coming from her.”  
I shook my head. “Helena’s a rock.”  
“Jesse,” Diana called out.  
Jesse looked at her. On that look, Diana gave Jesse the gesture to come over to her. She looked back at me. “Looks like it’s my turn to go to the principal.” She chuckled before running over to Diana.  
“Hey,” I heard Cisco say to Caitlin, “have you been around the Batcave?”  
I looked over to them.  
“I don’t think so.”  
With that, Cisco led her out of the cortex.  
I sighed at that. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Courtney beside me. “Hey.”  
She smirked. “I know that look.”  
I furrowed my eyebrows. “What look?”  
“That wide-eyed sad look you got going on there.”  
I shook my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
Courtney looked over at where Cisco and Caitlin left before turning back to me. “Oh, I see.”  
“It’s nothing.”  
“Uh, it isn’t nothing. That seems way more of a something to me.”  
I rolled my eyes. “Knock it off.”  
She let out an exhale through her nose. “You know, you still have a chance.”  
I chuckled. “You don’t know how to stay out of other peoples’ business, do you?”  
“I thought that one would be Kate’s line.” She paused for a moment. “But really, I’m being serious, Babs.”  
“What makes you think I still have a chance?”  
“I see that chemistry you two have,” she said, “as awkward as it is.”  
“What chemistry?”  
“The way you two look at each other is the clearest give away. The coy smiles. The dreamy look in your eyes. C’mon, everyone sees it.” She chuckled. “Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Frosty knew, too.”  
My eyes widened at that.  
Courtney chuckled. “You don’t need to look like that, Babs.” She paused again. “Oh...do you think--?”  
“I don’t know, Courtney,” I replied, “maybe. I don’t know their situation.” I sighed. “All I know is that it shouldn’t be my business.”  
Courtney rolled her eyes. “Oh my God, just shoot your damn shot already!” She smiled, even chuckled a bit. “You don’t see it, do you?”  
I shook my head. “I guess not.”  
“You know why he’s giving Caitlin attention,” Courtney replied, “it’s because she’s new and he’s the only one she knows. Kinda reminds me of when I joined the JSA with my stepdad.” She sighed. “You’re shot’s still open, Batgirl. And you don’t know if you don’t try.”  
I let that one sink in for a moment.  
She smirked to herself. “The best piece of advice I ever gave anyone.”  
“Is this advice one you came up with?”  
“Nope,” Courtney replied, “I gave that advice to my best friend, Cyclone, when she was crushing on Damage back in the JSA.” She chuckled at that.  
I sighed. “You...you don’t think they’re flirting, do you?”  
“If you’re talking about Cyclone and Damage, no. That ended up being a dud. But if you’re talking about Cisco and Caitlin, even if they are flirting, it doesn’t mean that they’re a thing.”  
I smiled a bit at her. “Thank you, Courtney,” I said, “for your advice.”  
Suddenly, there was an ear-piercing alarm.  
I covered my ears and squeezed my eyes shut. “The hell is going on?”  
“I don’t know!” Courtney shouted back.  
I opened my eyes. I panted before dashing over to the main computer system. I covered one ear as I got on with the other.  
“What’s that sound?” a voice asked in the midst of the alarm. It sounded like it could’ve been Mary.  
My view was fixed on the computer screen. “There’s been a breach.”  
“Here?” someone else asked. It sounded like Kate.  
I looked closer. “No.”  
“Then where?”  
“The Arrowcave.”  
I looked back. Dinah’s eyes widened. She raced over to the comms and tried to get them on. “Ollie!” she shouted into it, “Ollie, can you hear me?” She gripped harder onto the comm.  
“That’s where the Green Arrow is, right?” Mary asked me.  
“Right.”  
The line was static on Dinah’s side. She gripped on it so hard. She squeezed her eyes shut. Her mouth opened to let out a piercing canary cry at it.  
I tried to send a signal out to the Arrowcave, but it wouldn’t send through. “The hell is going on?”  
Suddenly, the screens went black. The alarm was cut.  
“What the hell is going on?” Dinah asked, her voice slightly cracking.  
“I don’t know.”  
Suddenly, an alien with green skin and magenta plugs in its bald head appeared on screen. “Humans of Earth,” its deep voice boomed, “you don’t know me, but I certainly know you. I am Brainiac and I have watched your world for many years now. So far, it has been...intriguing to me how you live your lives in such unique ways. Smart, but so foolish. When I decided I wanted to further study this Earth, I realized that I would have to approach this differently. Usually, I’d send in my best armies of androids, but I realized quickly that you could fight a war against artifical intelligence, but yet you fall victim to the one thing nature has created for so long. The one thing that makes humans flawed: the ability to be vulnerable to somethingthat can’t be seen with the human eye. That is how we were able to seige Star City just moments ago.”  
My heart dropped at that. I turned to Dinah. Her eyes were starting to water up, despite the semi-stoic look on her face.  
“As I have watched you succumb to this,” Brainiac explained, “I suggest you let this process of control and all will go well. If you try to resist, you will be met with great force.” Soon, a crackle sound echoed throughout the Batcave before the screens went black again.  
Dinah’s eyes were watery now, her semi-stoic look cracking. Both of her hands were balled into fists.  
I quickly got my phone. I went into my messages and texted Kara. “You and Mon-El need to get back to the Batcave ASAP.”


	30. Wonder Woman

My heart sank as I looked over at Dinah. I could see the tears welling up in her eyes. “Dinah,” I said, “I’m...I’m so sorry about Star City.” I let out a sigh. “I hope Ollie got out in time.”  
A tear escaped her eye. “I don’t know, Diana,” she said, “I hope so, too. But it’s not like he’s the Flash.”  
“Wait a second!” Harley interjected. She looked to Dinah. “You an’ the Emerald Archa are still a thing?” Her eyes widened. “I thought y’all called it quits not too long ago!”  
“Can it, Quinn!” Helena shouted. She glared at her. “We don’t need your input!”  
“Helena!” I called out. I watched as she looked away from Harley. I let out a sigh. “Okay.” I cleared my throat. “Everyone, we need to regroup.”

Several minutes later, the cortex was calm. Barbara had set up Bruce’s world satellite on the largest monitor. Already, the satellite detected that Star City was longer there. Where it would have been was replaced with a dark gray dot. I looked back at Barbara. “Can the satellite detect Brainiac’s ship at all?”  
She shook her head. “Not accurately.”  
I sighed. “Okay.” I looked back to the others. I saw Kara and Mon-El fly back in. “Where were you two?”  
“Out,” Kara answered.  
“You really shouldn’t have left, you two.”  
“I just needed some air,” Kara replied.  
I sighed. “Just join the others.”  
Kara and Mon-El merged with the rest of the group.  
“So Brainiac captured Star City,” I reiterated, “why he wants to is beyond me. Now, we need to find Brainiac’s ship before he gets the chance to bottle another one.”  
“Where do we go from here?” Jessica asked.  
“We need a plan,” I explained, “one that can efficiently take down Brainiac.” I turned to Barbara. “Pull up the data on Brainiac from the Justice League database.”  
She nodded. “On it.”  
“Batman has that on his Batcave computers?” Harley asked.  
“Batman has a knack for keeping track of information besides Barbara,” I said, “so why wouldn’t he?”  
On the screen, Brainiac’s profile appeared. His green face appeared beside a file of his information. I could see the pink plugs on his bald head.  
Kara looked at the screen with an air of contempt. “That’s him alright.”  
“As Kara said,” I announced, “this is our target. His name is Vril Dox, but he calls himself Brainiac. He’s an alien, as his homeworld is Colu. But he’s more than just an alien. The best way to describe him would be an extraterrestrial android.”  
Harley’s eyes went wide. She shot her hand in the air. “Ooh! Ooh!”  
I sighed. “Yes, Harley?’  
She put her hand back down. “I know how we can destroy this Brainy characta!”  
“What do you suggest?”  
“Okay, so we hijack his ship, right? We hunt him down and throw him in water. Boom! His circuits would be demolished! From there on, we’d be able ta save the world, Wondy!”  
Helena turned to Harley. “Do you know how fucking brainless you sound?”  
“Oh c’mon, Huntress,” she replied, “ya know I gotta point.”  
“While I see where you’re coming from, Harley,” I replied, “it’s half-baked.”  
“But like, tech an’ water don’t mix, right?”   
“Normally, no, they don’t. But Brainiac is more complex than our technology.”  
Harley pouted at that.  
“How advanced?” Mari asked. She put her hands at her hips.  
“Brainiac has a twelfth-level intellect,” I answered, “for reference, we typically have a sixth-level intellect.”  
“So we can't outsmart him when he’s like ten steps ahead of us,” Mary replied.  
“We can try to, but it is incredibly difficult.”  
“I could try to breach him to another dimension,” Cisco suggested.  
I looked over to him. I gave him a small smile. A plan that could work if we just elaborated on it more. “How do you think we should go about it?”  
“We get to his ship, find any information on how to revive Star City or any of the other cities he captured, and I can create a breach to send him through.”  
“Do you know what dimension would keep him from coming back?” I asked.  
“As long as Brainiac can’t find another breacher,” he responded, “he’d be stuck there.”  
I nodded. “I see great potential in that.” I looked back out to the others. “All in favor of Cisco’s plan, raise your hand.”  
Almost every hand went up. Harley pouted. “Aww, c’mon, guys,” she said, “my idea wasn’t that bad.”  
Helena rolled her eyes.  
I smiled. “I believe our decision is as unanimous as it can be.”  
“Diana,” Kate said.  
I turned to her. “Yes?”  
“So we have a plan in mind,” she added, “but how are we going to actually find Brainiac and his ship?”  
I put my thumb behind my chin, with my index finger laying above it. “Hmm, I see.” I quickly pointed at her. “You bring up a very good point.”  
“Well,” Barbara said, “if the ship’s last known location was Star City, we might as well head there, right?”  
I nodded. “That makes the most sense.”  
“I think I could still be able to make an educated guess where Brainiac is remotely while heading to Star City as Batgirl,” she assured me, “if there’s a certain pattern in Brainiac’s picking, we can estimate where he’d strike next.”  
I nodded at Barbara. “Your job is to keep an eye on that, okay?”  
She nodded.  
“So we go looking for Brainiac’s ship?” Courtney asked.  
“We find him and his ship,” I clarified, “and then we defeat him.” I turned back to Cisco. “How many people can you fit in a breach?” I asked.  
He scratched his neck. “Not many. I’d say two people at a time right now, but I think I could still fit Brainiac in it.”  
I frowned. It was clear he was still trying to learn about his powers. “Okay, how many of us can fly?” I saw only a few hands go up, with my own included, but it wouldn’t be enough to take the entire team. “Alright,” I said, “I believe it’s settled. We may need to travel by non-powered methods of travel. Plus, it will help us remain undetected by Brainiac if he feels that we are a threat and starts looking for us.”  
Harley gasped, with her eyes wide and her mouth gaping open. “Oh my God!” Suddenly, she flashed a smile on her face. “I LOVE roadtrips! We could take selfies, have a sing along to music, play games. Ooh! I could tell my best jokes!”  
Helena turned to Harley. “Would you shut the hell up for five fucking minutes?!” she shouted.  
“This is a business trip, Harley,” I explained, “we need to take every part of this mission seriously.” I paused for a moment. “The second we lower our guard, we may risk our world as we know it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. As some of you know, I went offline for about a month or so. My mental health was in a really bad spot because of the outside world. My anxiety was so bad, I couldn't write at all outside of my online classes. But now that I'm back, I hope to be more consistent. It may not be a weekly as it used to be, but it should be more frequent. Thank you for all of the support!


	31. Supergirl

The sun had set over Gotham City. Rain drizzled down. I stood at the top of Wayne Tower, looking over the lit-up skyline. In less than a day, we’d leave this place. And I’d leave National City. To hunt down a megalomaniac. The same one that destroyed Krypton. The one that destroyed my home. I could feel a pit in my stomach. I took in a deep breath, hoping it would fade away on its own.  
Suddenly, I heard a soft woosh. I looked over to see Mary in her red Mary Marvel fly up to me. Her brown eyes looked into mine. “You okay, Kara?” She landed in front of me. “You’ve been kinda...skittish lately.”  
I shrugged. “I guess.”  
“You know,” Mary said, “I get why you’re feeling this way.”  
I looked up at her.  
“At least a little bit,” she added. She let out a sigh before sitting down beside me.  
“You know what it’s like to look the being that basically committed genocide on your people right in the eye?”  
She scratched at her peach-colored neck. “I actually didn’t mean that part. Though I guess Black Adam comes pretty close to that when it comes to the..Marvel fam?”  
I nodded. Our allies called them the Shazamily, since the group of foster kids: Billy, Freddy, Darla, Eugene, Pedro, and Mary, all lived together in a foster home. Once Billy got his powers, the others quickly followed.  
“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Mary replied, “but I know what it’s like to be up against something intimidating.”  
A small chuckle escaped me. “Black Adam?”  
She laughed lightly. “Hit the nail on the head.” She sighed. “Look Kara, I know this is your first big enemy. And I know that. I was so scared to go up against Black Adam, but my foster siblings reminded me that I wasn’t alone in that fight. I don’t think I would’ve been able to defeat him on my own. It’s the same here, too. You got us. We’re not gonna hang you out to dry.”  
I gave Mary a small smile. “Thank you.”

Jeremiah’s car wasn’t out front when I flew back home. I landed where his car would be. I looked inside. Only one light was on. I could feel my gut turn as I walked inside. In the living room, Eliza sat on a chair, reading. I walked over to her.  
She looked up at me. “Were you out patrolling National City tonight?”  
I shrugged. “Something like that.”  
She nodded.  
“Where’s Jeremiah?”  
Eliza shut her eyes for a moment and sighed. She closed her book before putting it on the coffee table in front of her. She looked up at me. “Jeremiah went to the hospital.”  
“He...he isn’t sick with the disease...is he?”  
She gave me a frown. “We aren’t sure, but from what Jeremiah told me, he’s showing signs of it.”  
I blinked a couple times as this new information sunk in. But Jeremiah’s healthy. There’s no way he could be sick with it. “They must’ve misdiagnosed him,” I said.  
Eliza shook her head. “I don’t know. National City Hospital has the best doctors in the area. I don’t really think they would misdiagnose him, Kara.”  
I could feel my heart sink. “Shouldn’t you at least be with him?”  
She sighed. “Once I get the call from Jeremiah saying that he’s been through his check-ins with the doctors.”  
“I should come, too.”  
“The hospital won’t allow more than one visitor, Kara,” she replied, “they don’t want too many people in the hospital when it’s not necessary.”  
I sighed before giving her a small nod. “Okay.”  
Suddenly, there was a ringing coming from the kitchen. Eliza got out of her chair and went to the phone. She picked it up. “Anything new?” There was a pause. “I see. Okay, I’ll be there in fifteen. Love you.” She hung up.  
“Was that Jeremiah?” I asked.  
Eliza nodded. “I have to go now.”  
“When will you be back?”  
“Late tonight,” she said, “call me if you need anything, okay?”  
I nodded back.  
Eliza took her purse from the kitchen counter. After a few moments, she left the house.  
My stomach churned. This couldn’t be happening. I ran to my room. Not even thinking, I took out a piece of paper and a pencil.

To Eliza and Jeremiah,  
If you don't find me in my bedroom this morning, it means that I’ve left to fight against the person behind all of this madness. I will be with other heroes, like Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and Black Canary just to name a few. I will be in good hands. I should come back soon. If for some reason I don’t come back, I just wanted to let you know that you were the best adoptive family I could ask you. My mom and dad would have been grateful to know where their daughter would end up being. Thank you for helping me adapt to Earth while also supporting me for following in Kal’s footsteps. I don’t think I could’ve made it as far without your help. It means so much to me. I love you two.

I placed the letter on the kitchen table early that morning once Eliza returned from the hospital and went to bed. I sighed as I looked at the letter. A pit grew in my stomach. But this had to happen. I winced at the thought of not going. Jeremiah would die. So would Ben if he wasn’t already. Last time I saw him, he collapsed at CatCo. I hadn’t heard from him since. The disease could also affect Lee, too. They were already sick, most likely with the disease. Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. What if the disease got at Mon-El?  
I shook my head. I couldn’t allow myself to think like that. Not when everything was at stake like this. I stepped away from the table. I’m sorry in advance. I can only imagine how Eliza will feel when not only her husband is in the hospital, but her adoptive daughter has left. I sighed. No, this was for the greater good. She had to recognize that. I turned away from the table and went to my room. I changed out of my pajamas and into my Supergirl outfit. With that, I opened my window and flew out.

The others were already at the Batcave. I landed beside the main monitors. Babs, Courtney, and Jesse stood by there. Just like me, each one of them was in their designated outfit.  
Babs turned to me. “We were wondering what was taking you so long,”she teased. A chuckle escaped her.  
“Had to wait for Eliza to be asleep.”  
Courtney furrowed her eyes from under her mask. “Who’s Eliza?”  
“She’s my adoptive mom.”  
“How is your adoptive family doing?” Jesse asked, “I know it must be hard for them when they know their daughter is going into danger like this.”  
I sighed.  
A frown appeared on Babs’s face. “Is everything okay, Kara?”  
I shook my head. “Eliza knowing what I’m doing would only make her feel worse than she already is.”  
“What do you mean?” Jesse asked.  
It was quiet for a second. “Jeremiah, my adoptive dad, he’s sick. Like, badly sick.”  
Jesse’s eyes widened. She covered her mouth. “Oh my God!”  
“I’m so sorry,” Babs replied, “if you need anything, don’t hesitate to come to me, okay?”  
I nodded. “Thank you.”  
“Wait,” Courtney interjected, “what is he sick with?”  
“We aren’t really sure. But we think it’s the same disease that’s been spreading around men right now.”  
“The Pale Man disease?”  
“Most likely.”  
Courtney’s eyes widened slightly. She bit her lip. “Damn, I’m sorry.”  
I shook my head. “It’s not your fault.”  
“Well, we are about to go find Brainiac and reverse all of this after all,” Jesse said, “if we act fast enough, we’ll be able to save your dad.”  
I looked to Jesse. A weak smile formed on my face. “I hope so.” Suddenly, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around.  
Nia stood in front of me. Her brown eyes behind her blue mask looked up at me. “Kara, I need your help.”  
“What’s wrong?”  
She took my hand and moved me away to another side of the Batcave, furthering us from the others. After a few moments, she stopped.  
“Is everything okay?” I asked.  
“I had a vision last night.”  
I blinked a couple times. “What was it?”  
She sighed. “I saw an arena filled to the brim with these spectators. It was incredibly loud with cheering. On the stage, I...I saw two of us, but I couldn’t tell which two of us, but I saw that they both had their fists up, like they were about to fight each other.” She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. “The last thing I saw was an arrow flying through the air before the vision ended.”  
My stomach churned. “Do...do you think that it’s possible that it’s not literal?”  
Nia shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. But this...this feels too close to home.”  
I felt a frown form on my face.  
Suddenly, I could hear Diana clear her throat from the other side of the Batcave. “Alright, everybody,” she called out, “let’s roll out.”  
I looked to Nia. Her jaw dropped. “It’s time to go?” I sighed and gave her a nod. Barely even a second had passed before she ran to hug me. “Don’t let my vision become true.” Her body trembled against mine.  
I hugged her back. “I won’t let it.” I stroked her back a bit.  
Suddenly, there was a woosh. For a moment, it was quiet again. “You guys okay?” Mon-El’s voice asked.  
I looked over to see him. “Yeah,” I said before turning my head to look at Nia, “it will be.”  
Nia nodded her head before leaving that side of the Batcave to catch up with the others.  
Mon-El walked over to me. “You sure everything’s okay, Kara?”  
I caught up with him and soon we started to join the others. “Nia’s just uh...she’s just a bit nervous about going into this fight.”  
“Who wouldn’t be?” Mon-El kept walking beside me.  
“She’s having visions,” I admitted.  
He looked back at me as we walked. “She is?”  
I nodded. “It sounded like a type of...battle royale,” I explained.  
He pursed his lips together. “Sounds like her visions may have officially come to total fruition,” he muttered under his breath.  
My eyes widened slightly. “Wait, what?”  
He shook his head. “Nevermind,” he replied, “we just need to stay vigilant, just in case.”  
I gave him a slight nod as we merged back with the rest of the group.

It had been about a half an hour when we got deeper into Gotham City. Only the city lights and streetlights kept the city from being dark. Even the moon and stars were covered by the dark clouds. I felt a cool breeze blow past me.  
Stargirl scoffed loudly. “Why can’t we just fly?” she asked, “It’s gonna take us, like, FOREVER, to get to where we need to go. I can fly a couple of us on my staff.”  
“Ooh!” Harley let out in a shrill voice, “that sounds like fun!”  
“No,” Batwoman said.  
Stargirl let out a groan. “C’mon! I can us there like, a lot faster, and Brainiac will be defeated in no time.”  
“Yeah, B-Woman,” Harley said, “Star’s gotta point!” She went closer to Batwoman, “plus, you’ll be able ta actually fly! Like a real bat!”  
“There aren't enough of us to fly everyone,” Batwoman replied, “we already went over this.”  
Stargirl pouted as we continued to walk.  
“Yer no fun!” Harley shouted.  
Huntress slammed her elbow into Harley’s side. “Shut up, clown!”  
Jesse looked to Huntress. “Was that really necessary?”  
“I’m not letting this bitch blow our cover,” Huntress growled.  
“Wait,” Vixen said, “where exactly are we in Gotham City?”  
“Robinson Park,” Batgirl answered, “if we can get through the park soon, we’ll be able to get to a subway station before many civilians are there.”  
Suddenly, there was a rustling, like someone was walking through a pile of leaves. Just moments before, I hadn’t heard that sound. I stopped walking.  
Jessica looked over at me. “You okay, Supergirl?” she asked. She furrowed her eyebrows a bit.  
“I heard something.” I cleared my throat and looked toward the others ahead of me. “Guys,” I said, “I think we’re being followed.”  
Stargirl turned around. She looked past me, moving her head side to side slightly. “I don’t see anything.”  
“I swear I heard something,” I pressed, “we need to hurry up.”  
“I literally don’t see anything,” Stargirl insisted, “I got, like 20/20 vision. I’d know if I saw something sketchy.”  
In that moment, a thick, moist vine wrapped around my leg. “Ah!” Before I could notice what had happened, I was hung upside down. “What in Rao’s name?” I shouted. Right then, I could see that the others were strung up like me.  
“You wanna say we weren’t being followed again, Stargirl?” Black Canary asked.  
Stargirl tried to squirm out of the vine squeezing her. “I have 20/20 vision, though.”  
“So does hindsight,” Batwoman replied.  
I looked further down with my telescopic vision. The others up front were tied up and upside-down as well. Killer Frost glared at the vine around her. In frustration, she let out a grunt.  
Vibe turned his head and looked over at her through his vibe goggles. “What are you trying to do, Frost?” he asked.  
“Trying to freeze the vine off,” she explained, “but it’s not working!” She gritted her teeth.  
“I don’t know if the vine’s weak enough for that,” Batgirl replied, “even if I coud use my Batarang, it wouldn’t be able to cut through something this strong...or thick.”  
“Can’t you make a breach?” Killer Frost asked.  
“Hard to do that when my hands are kinda tied by my side,” he replied.  
Wonder Woman sighed heavily. “Suffering sappho! My sword will not cut through this foul trap!”  
“Neither will my ring,” Jessica replied.  
“And I can’t phase through,” Jesse admitted.  
I focused back to where I was. I looked at the vine entangling me. I used my heat-vision against it, but it wouldn’t burn. If anything, the vine seemed to get a tighter grip. “Shit.” I turned to the other side of me. Mon-El was struggling through the vine. “You okay?” I asked him.  
“Once I get out of this,” he said, “I will be.”  
I let out a sigh.  
“Wait a minute,” Harley blurted, “these vines, the rustlin’ a leaves. That could only mean one person has been hot on our trail!”  
A pale woman with reddish-orange hair emerged from the park’s darkness. She was wearing a bodysuit made of green leaves. Her heeled boots matched her bodysuit. Her eyes were a shade of emerald green. A snarl curled on her face. It was a face I hadn’t seen in a long time: Poison Ivy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I am so sorry for this being delayed for two months. I've been having some mental health bumps lately, which can make writing, especially outside of my schoolwork, harder to do. I hope to be on the better side of it soon, but after the past couple of times, I can't really promise when I will update. That being said, this story is NOWHERE near over, so I do plan to finish the story out to its bitter end and hopefully to make this a series. Hold tight for the next few parts, and once I'm on the mend and once my work load lightens up, I will be back to "Justice League Femme". :) Once again, thank you all for the support!
> 
> -Amethyst Jewels


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